Murder Weapon: Mercedes Benz

[KoratCat]

CRIME / FORMER MISS THAILAND'S SON CHARGED

Man rams car into bus passengers, killing one

POST REPORTERS

A son of a former Miss Thailand winner has been charged with murder and attempted murder after he ran over several bus passengers with his car, killing one and injuring a number of others, following a quarrel with the bus driver on Wednesday night. Kanpithak Patchimsawat, 20-year-old son of Sawinee Pakaranang and Kan-anek Patchimsawat, accused Sathaporn Arunsiri, 37, the driver of bus No 513, of hitting his car while in the Asoke area.

After a brief argument, both left the scene. When the bus stopped at a traffic light at Aree intersection near Sukhumvit Soi 26, Mr Kanpithak left the car to approach the bus driver. The driver then told passengers to leave the bus for another vehicle. Before they could be picked up, Mr Kanpithak got back into his car and rammed it into the waiting passengers. Three people were trapped under the car when it came to a stop.

Eyewitnesses and other passengers tried to lift the Mercedes to free the victims, who were taken to Chulalongkorn Hospital. One victim, Saichon Luangsaeng, 42, was pronounced dead at the hospital yesterday while two others are being treated for serious injuries.

The angry crowd then turned on Mr Kanpithak, assaulting him before police stepped in. He is being treated at Samitivej Hospital.

Pol Lt-Gen Adisorn Nonsi, the metropolitan police chief, said police would treat all sides fairly. Mr Kanpitak is the nephew of Ukrit Patchimsawat, retired deputy police chief.

Police are awaiting the results of an alcohol test and medical records of Mr Kanpithak, who was reportedly once treated at Galaya Rajanagarindra Institute and has a problem with self-control.

The family of Mrs Saichon yesterday filed a complaint with police. Her daughter Sucheera Insuwan, 25, said the family wanted Mr Kanpithak prosecuted. Mrs Saichon, a financial officer of the state-run bus agency, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, was among passengers waiting when the Mercedes hit her.

Mr Kan-anek, father of Mr Kanpithak, says he will take all responsibility for what happened.

The family agreed to pay compensation to the injured and the family of the dead victim.

At a press conference, Mr Kan-anek and Mrs Sawinee, who are divorced, expressed regret.

Mr Kanpithak had suffered from depression and his body would stiffen in a fit when enraged, his father said.

His son would be ordained to make merit for the dead victim.

Bangkok Post July 6, 2007

[KoratCat]

Father accuses bus stop 'mob' of attacking his road rage son

The father of a man who rammed his Mercedes into a crowd at a bus stop on Wednesday night, killing one person and injuring several others, has threatened to file charges against bystanders who allegedly physically attacked his son and his car. Kan-anek Patchimsawat, father of Mr Kanpithak, 20, said he could not allow ''mob rule to be above the rule of law''.

He went on television yesterday to try and defend his son, saying he was suffering from stress and was ''sick'' and unaware of what he was doing at the time. The bus passengers, he said, had no right to assault his son.

Mr Kanpithak drove his car into a crowd of people in an apparent rage after having an argument with a bus driver he had accused of hitting his Mercedes.

Mr Kanpithak is the son of former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pakaranang and nephew of retired deputy police chief Ukrit Patchimsawat and comes from a very wealthy and influential family.

He has been charged with murder and attempted murder following Wednesday night's incident.

During a television interview yesterday morning, his father named Somjit Kaewkla, the bus conductor, as one of the attackers. He said he learned from his son that the woman damaged his car and tried to pull him from the vehicle.

Mr Kanpithak remained sitting in his car as people tried to free three people who were wedged under the large sedan.

Mr Kan-anek refuted Ms Somjit's statement to police that accused his son of faking illness after the incident, saying ''she lied.'' He also branded her an ''ill-educated'' person.

According to the young man's father, Mr Kanpithak, who is being treated at Samitivej Hospital, was suffering from stress, had bruises to his body and had had a ''brain haemorrhage''. He is also unable to move his arms and legs, Mr Kan-anek said.

He said his son was unaware of what he did and blamed ''illness'' as the cause. It was reported that Mr Kanpithak had previously received treatment at the Galaya Rajanagarindra Institute, a renowned psychiatric hospital.

The father claimed he rushed to hospital to calm his son down after he made a phone call saying he wanted to die.

He also dismissed speculation that his son would eventually walk free from the case because of his wealth.

''If he hadn't been treated at the [Galaya Rajanagarindra] institute, he would go to jail,'' he said, adding that the family was awaiting medical records from the doctor who treated him.

Mr Kan-anek said he was also waiting for a list of the dead and injured victims from the police and that he would offer compensation.

Police said they would issue a warrant for the arrest of Mr Kanpithak if he did not show up for questioning within the next few days.

Bangkok Post July 7, 2007

Oh Lord, won't you buy me . . .

[mcmurphy]

What's this world gettin' to, if even a Benz doesn't guarantee your safety from the mob anymore

[Isaan Rollie]

Hot topic No. 1:

Driver apologises to victims

Arrest warrant for murder and assault served on Kanpitak in hospital

Kanpitak Pachim-sawas yesterday apologised to his seriously injured victims for the first time since he swerved his Mercedes-Benz sedan into a crowd of people on a Bangkok footpath on Wednesday night.

The 20-year-old man expressed his remorse on the same day the court issued an arrested warrant for him on three grave charges - premeditated murder, attempted murder and assault and battery.

The notice was delivered to him at Samitivej Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for injuries.

The apology came to the public in the form of brief note he wrote to Saengmanee Imsolary - one of the injured - at Camillian Hospital. It was passed to Saengmanee together with a bouquet by Kanpitak's mother Savinee Pakaranang, a former Miss Thailand.

"To Khun Saengmanee and family, I deeply regret the devastation to your lives caused by my action. I apologise, Ham," said the note. Ham is his nickname.

The message became the first time the young man, claimed by his family as having mental problems, had communicated with the victims since he ploughed into them.

Savinee said Kanpitak was worried about them and wanted to say he was sorry directly himself, but he could not get out of his hospital bed due to thrombosis in his legs.

He was wounded as angry bystanders attacked him for killing one person and seriously hurting two with his Benz.

"Ham does want to take action against those who assaulted him. I want everyone to listen to his own words when he gets well. I beg the media to justify him," Savinee said.

Her words contradicted what Kanpitak's father Kan-anek said on Friday, that he would take legal action against those who had damaged the Benz and hurt his son.

Colonel Jirawat Phumijit, superintendent of Thonglor police station, said he would discuss with doctors a good way to detain Kanpitak while under arrest.

Families of victims have gradually reported to police to demand compensation from Kanpitak and take legal action against him.

Representatives of Nam Song Hotel in Laos, where Laotian Saengmanee worked, reported to investigators at Thonglor police station, determined that they wanted to take criminal action against Kanpitak.

Saengmanee is still in serious condition with three broken ribs and a big wound on her back.

Wisit wisitsora-at, director of the Justice Affairs Office under the Justice Ministry, offered assistance to victims and families who had difficulties in taking legal recourse against Kanpitak. He said the Justice Fund under his office could provide financial support.

While being condemned by the public as a "spoiled hi-so brat", Kanpitak has also received moral support from his fan club. A website http://www.moohamfanclub.th.gs was launched to "protect and give moral support" to Kanpitak. However, the website was open for public comment for just several hours.

At noon, Kanpitak's fan club decided to shut down the site as too many messages censuring Kanpitak were posted.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/ ... d=30039804

Took a lot of pushing to make this brat even pretend only that he were sorry

[KoratCat]

Road rage trial set for March 24

Kanpithak Patchimsawat, the young man who ran his Mercedes into a crowd at a bus stop in July last year, killing one person and injuring several others, was yesterday indicted on three charges, including murder. Mr Kanpithak, also known as Mu Ham, was indicted on charges of murder, attempted murder and physical assault.

He pleaded guilty to the assault charge, but denied the others.

The 20-year-old son of former Miss Thailand Sawinee Pakaranang and nephew of retired assistant police chief Pol Lt-Gen Ukrit Patchimsawat comes from a wealthy and influential family.

In the motion, the prosecutor said Mr Kanpithak got into an argument with a bus driver, hitting the man in the face with a brick, before driving his car into a crowded bus stop, killing 42-year-old Saichon Luangsaeng and injuring several others. The court scheduled the trial for March 24.

Mr Kanpithak apologised yesterday for the harm he had caused ''unconsciously'', before bursting into tears. His family have claimed he was suffering from mental problems.

Bangkok Post March 14, 2008

The court has to make sure that society does not suffer under his mental problems.

[newsclip]

Thailand's wealthy untouchables

By Jonathan Head
BBC News, Bangkok

Sometimes a single incident manages to shine a spotlight deep into the soul of a society.

There was just such an incident in Thailand last year, which has just gone to court, and which speaks volumes about the dislocating impact of more than four decades of break-neck economic growth.

It was a seemingly routine accident along Sukhumvit Road, one of Bangkok's busiest and most traffic-clogged thoroughfares.

A Mercedes-Benz was pulled up alongside a city bus, and a young man was having an angry exchange with the bus driver, whom he accused of scraping against his car.

The passengers started shouting at the man, who got back into his car and appeared to be about to leave.

But instead he accelerated forwards onto the pavement and into the crowd of passengers, crushing several of them under his vehicle.

One woman later died, and several other passengers were seriously injured.

A fit of road rage perhaps? The police charged the young man, Kanpitak Pachimsawas, with murder.

But the case very quickly turned into one about class differences, about the perceived arrogance of Thailand's rich, towards the poor.

'Bad attitude'

Kanpitak, it turned out, was the 20-year-old son of a former Miss Thailand beauty queen and a wealthy businessman.

He was also the nephew of a powerful police officer.

The bus driver reported that his father had arrived at the scene and threatened to use his police connections against the passengers.

"He thinks he has money and a big family name, so he can do things like this to poor people," the bus conductor told reporters at the scene.

Kanpitak's father was unrepentant. Speaking on a TV chat show two days later, he showed more concern for his son than his victims.

Responding to the bus conductor's comments he said: "They are uneducated. That's how they are.

"They think they are abused, that rich people are bad, that the police are bad. Lower class people have a bad attitude towards police officers and rich people. They hate us and curse us."

Inequality

Thailand has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth anywhere on the planet, despite some recent improvements.

And that yawning gap between rich and poor is most openly on view in Bangkok, where ostentatious displays of wealth are commonplace alongside the grinding poverty experienced by millions of migrant workers who have come from the countryside.

Luxury cars costing more than the entire annual income of a village rub up against the battered carts of street vendors.

New shopping centres and apartment blocks are crowding out what little open space remains in the city, projects that help the rich get even richer.

It should come as no surprise that it is in Bangkok that a five-star hotel is offering its 50 highest-spending guests what it calls the meal of a lifetime, prepared by a team of Michelin-starred chefs and preceded by the guests being flown by executive jet to a village in eastern Thailand to witness a little poverty before tucking into their 10-course feast.

Total cost: around US$300,000 (£150,000). The event has barely raised an eyebrow in Thailand, but caused such an uproar elsewhere over its questionable taste that many top chefs in France have decided to boycott it.

What is so striking about Thailand's inequality is how little visible social tension there is.

For the most part people appear to accept their lot without resentment. Some put this down to Buddhist concepts of fate and karma, others, to Thailand's deep-rooted sense of hierarchy, with the king at its apex.

Social activist and former Senator Jon Ungpakorn sees more prosaic causes.

"Because of the high growth rates in Thailand there is a sort of buffer," he says.

"Even the poor feel they are doing better than they would have done many years ago. They still see that they have opportunities ahead."

'Damage is done'

The case of Kanpitak Pachimsawas has struck a raw nerve.

Websites in Thailand are filled with comments demanding that the young man face the full force of the law, regardless of his family connections.

Some poke fun at his father's claim that it was mental stress that caused him to drive his car into the crowd.

But there is little of the blistering anger that erupted in China after a similar case four years ago, when a woman who drove her BMW at a farmer she had been arguing with, killing his wife, was given only a suspended jail sentence.

It forced the Chinese authorities to reopen the case, and to close down websites carrying the online debate over the case.

In Thailand, Kanpitak Pachimsawas was released on bail and, amazingly, even allowed to continue driving.

On his first day in court he was apparently overcome by nerves and said he was unable to answer any questions. The judge adjourned the case until November. He may never go to prison.

Suchira Insawan, the daughter of the woman he killed, says she feels no anger towards him.

She has yet to receive any compensation from the Pachimsawas family - she has asked for 7m baht ($222,000; £111,000) but is likely to get less, perhaps even less than the list price of the Mercedes-Benz that crushed her mother.

"The damage is done," she told me. "I forgive him. I don't want to destroy his future, I don't want him to be jailed. I don't want bad karma."

She also had little faith that the courts would find against such a privileged young man.

"Many parts of the Thai bureaucratic system favour rich people. If you are not one of them, you will always be left at the back of the queue."

BBC.co.uk April 7, 2008

[KoratCat]

Court sent son of former Miss Thailand to ten years in jail for agressive driving

Phrakanong Court on Friday sentenced Kanpitak Pachimsawas, 21, son of former Miss Thailand, to 15 years and two months in jail on charges of premeditated-murder due to his aggressive driving which killed one and injured three others.

The penalty was reduced to 10 years and one month as the defendant had already paid some compensation to the injured.

On July 4, 2007, Kanpitak swerved his car into the footpath near a bus-stop where many people were waiting for buses after he got into an argument with the driver of bus number 513, claiming that the bus hit him and fled. One died and three others were injured.

the Nation Jan. 30,2009

I hope he has to do every day of it!