Fugitive inmate Chaowalit Thongduang, alias "Sia Paeng Nanod", who fled a hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat last October and was arrested in Indonesia last week is to be returned to the country on Tuesday, according to authorities.
A delegation led by Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong met Chaowalit at the Thai embassy in Jakarta on Sunday. The minister said that an air force plane would carry the fugitive back to the country instead of a commercial flight to ensure safety, and his arrival was expected on Tuesday pending the extradition process in Indonesia.
After landing at Suvarnabhumi airport, the fugitive would be sent to the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
During his meeting with the justice minister, Chaowalit said that he had been unfairly treated, and the minister assured him that justice would be served and his safety would be protected.
The fugitive also praised Thai authorities for being able to arrest him. He told the minister that he had been in three or four countries before the arrest.
Chaowalit also said that in Indonesia he obtained a fake ID card claiming he was a native of Aceh from the owner of the condominium where he stayed.
Assistant national police chief Pol Lt Gen Prachuap Wongsuk who accompanied the justice minister said Chaowalit would be charged with escape from imprisonment, physical assault, illegal firearms possession and attempted murder. Authorities would place him in a high-security prison, he added.
Authorities would figure out how Chaowalit was able to escape from a Nakhon Si Thammarat hospital last year, Pol Lt Gen Prachuap said.
Indonesian police arrested Chaowalit on the resort island of Bali on Thursday morning after he quarrelled with and assaulted an Indonesian woman there.
The 37-year-old fugitive was serving time for attempted murder and was facing multiple other criminal charges, including murder and firearms possession. On Oct 22 last year he fled from Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital after being taken there for dental treatment.
Police tracked him to a hideout in the Banthad mountain range in Trang on Nov 8. Following a shootout, he escaped again into the mountainous terrain that straddles Phatthalung, Trang and Satun provinces.
Despite a massive manhunt, the inmate managed to evade capture. It was later reported that he was believed to have left Thailand in a speedboat from Satun.
While on the run, Chaowalit released a series of videos in which he claimed he had been unfairly treated.
He claimed he was the only person sentenced for his crimes despite numerous other suspects being involved. He also claimed his appeal for bail in the pending murder case had not been handled fairly.
On Dec 25 Chaowalit was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for attempted murder. The conviction stemmed from a shooting at a restaurant in Muang district of Phatthalung on Sept 9, 2019.
He was charged with colluding with four others to try and murder a court assistant. All five were handed life terms.
