Cover-up accusations fly over hit-and run

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Cover-up accusations fly over hit-and run
Published: 21/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News
 
The family of a Phra Mongkut Hospital doctor who remains comatose after an apparent deliberate hit-and-run is accusing military leaders of trying to cover up the case.

The mother of Maj Hathaiporn Imwitthaya, 34, said police are dragging their feet after they were stopped by military security when trying to impound the vehicle they suspect was used in the crime.

Pannakorn Imwitthaya said the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters (RTAFH) provided police with false evidence.

She said she suspects the driver was an influential army officer, who is pulling rank to stall the investigation.

Maj Hathaiporn arrived home on Set Siri road in Phaya Thai district on June 11 at 9pm to find a Nissan sedan blocking her driveway.

She assumed the car belonged to a customer of a nearby restaurant, so she jotted down the licence plate number and asked the restaurant staff to find its owner to move the car.

Maj Hathaiporn went inside the house and when she came outside, she noticed the Nissan sedan was parked over the road.

"When she was about to get into the car, I heard the sound of a blaring horn. Then a car zoomed in and hit her, sending her into the air and landing 30 metres away," Mrs Pannakorn said. The man who drove the car looked like a military officer, she said.

A witness kept a windshield wiper that apparently fell from the car as evidence. The wiper was collected from the doctor's body.

"I suspect [the hit-and-run] was a deliberate act and that the man must know he has back-up," she said.

The licence plate number has been examined and it turned out the car was registered to the RTAFH.

Pol Maj Gen Wichai Sangpraprai, chief of Metropolitan Police Division 1, denied police were dragging their feet, saying paper work took time.

Police yesterday went to the RTAFH to take the suspected car away for investigation but were blocked by security officers.

Soon after, a car was delivered to the police station under the supervision of Maj Gen Pisut Pao-in, deputy comptroller general.

Mrs Pannakorn said the car was similar to the one involved in the hit-and-run and had both windscreen wipers.

She said the sedan that hit her daughter had many stickers attached to the windshield but the car delivered by the RTAFH had just one.

Pol Lt Col Chote Suwanjuneee, deputy chief of Phayathai police station, said police were not treating the case as a normal hit-and-run.

"The charge is deliberate assault with intent to kill. We have footage from surveillance cameras and evidence," he said.

An army source said the Nissan sedan was on loan to a retired army general whose son, a lieutenant colonel, was being linked to the hit-and-run.

[Khun Tony]

This will be interesting to see how it plays out!!! I get the feeling from what I've read that had it been a falang that was run down, the falang probably would have been charged with attempted break and entry and possibly fleeing the scene of a crime in an ambulance!!!