NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Tight security will surround the return of high-profile jail escapee Chaowalit Thongduang when he is extradited from Indonesia on Tuesday and handed over to provincial police.
Nakhon Si Thammarat police chief Pol Maj Gen Somchai Seutortrakul said on Monday a special unit would receive the 37-year-old at Nakhon Si Thammarat Airport on Tuesday and take him to Muang police station, where the murder suspect will be interrogated and formally charged over his escape.
Security would be tight at the airport and along all the roads the police convoy will travel, he said. He did not reveal the route.
Pol Maj Gen Somchai Seutortrakul said Chaowalit's lawyer will be present during the entire process, which he expected would take a couple of days, depending on the suspect's level of cooperation.
Chaowalit, alias Paeng Nanod, was serving 20 years in prison on multiple criminal charges, including murder and firearms possession, when he escaped from Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital on Oct 22. He had been taken there for dental treatment.
The man will be handed over to Corrections Department officials for detention after he is questioned and informed of the fresh charges by police.
Thai authorities have given conflicting statements about Chaowalit's extradition this Tuesday. The provincial police commander said Chaowalit would be extradited directly from Indonesia to Nakhon Si Thammarat on an air force plane, but Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong has said the flight would go to Suvarnabhumi airport first, and then the prisoner would be returned to the southern province.
Chaowalit was arrested by Indonesian police in Bali on Thursday for drug dealing, using a fake Indonesian ID card and assaulting women.
Chaowalit Thongduang
