5-6-2024 (BANGKOK) In a high-profile case that captivated the nation, police and corrections officials swiftly transported the returned fugitive Chaowalit “Sia Paeng Nanod” Thongduang from Nakhon Si Thammarat province to Bangkok on Wednesday morning, where he was immediately admitted to the central prison.
The 37-year-old escapee, who had been captured in Indonesia after an extensive manhunt, arrived on a police plane at the aviation division in Don Muang district. Chaowalit was then transferred to Bang Kwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi province, amid tight security measures.
Chaowalit was transported from the airport to the prison in a police van, surrounded by a convoy of four other police vehicles and accompanied by four heavily armed commandos from the Crime Suppression Division, underscoring the high-risk nature of the operation.
According to a senior prisons official, Chaowalit will be kept in solitary confinement for his own safety, as authorities anticipate potential threats from other inmates.
The dramatic extradition unfolded on Tuesday evening when Indonesian authorities returned Chaowalit to Nakhon Si Thammarat on a chartered private jet. His capture in Bali last week followed a confrontation with an Indonesian woman that drew the attention of local police.
While initially interrogated by Thai police in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Tuesday night, authorities later abandoned their plan to hold him there for four days, opting instead to transfer him swiftly to the central prison in Bangkok.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong cited the ongoing construction at the Nakhon Si Thammarat prison as the reason for the expedited transfer to the capital.
Chen Kanchanapat, deputy director-general of the Department of Corrections, confirmed that Chaowalit would be placed in solitary confinement for his own safety, given the potential threat from enemies within the prison population.
Pol Col Audie Latuheru, head of the international crimes section of the Indonesian police, revealed that Chaowalit had initially arrived in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where individuals suspected of harbouring him and providing him with a fake ID card were arrested.
Chaowalit’s long and infamous flight from justice began on October 22, 2022, when he escaped from Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital after being taken there for dental treatment. He was serving time for attempted murder and facing multiple other criminal charges, including murder and firearms possession.
Despite a massive manhunt, the escapee evaded capture for months, even releasing a series of videos claiming unfair treatment and alleging irregularities in his legal proceedings.
On December 25, while on the run, Chaowalit was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for attempted murder, stemming from the shooting of a court assistant at a restaurant in Phatthalung in 2019.
With Chaowalit’s extradition and incarceration at the central prison, authorities hope to bring closure to this high-profile case and ensure that justice is served.
