DSI receives the letter from the Attorney General informing his final prosecution order against “Chaiwat” and his group in the case of murder of Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, a leader of Karen community

DSI receives the letter from the Attorney General informing his final prosecution order against “Chaiwat” and his group in the case of murder of Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, a leader of Karen community

       The DSI previously investigated the case of the disappearance of Mr. Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen (a leader of the Ban Pong Luk-Bang Kloy Karen community, Kaeng Krachan District, Phetchaburi Province) who disappeared after being arrested by Kaeng Krachan National Park officers for the criminal charge of taking honey as a forest product out of the national park area on April 17, 2014. The Board of Special Case passed its resolution to accept this case as the special case no. 13/2565. From the inquiry, admissible evidence indicated that it was the murder case. The Director-General of the DSI opined to prosecute against Mr. Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn (former Superintendent of the Kaeng Krachan National Park) and others (4 persons) for the offences of jointly committing murder on the other person by premeditation and for the purpose of securing the benefit obtained though the other offence or concealing the other offence or escaping punishment for the other offence committed by them, jointly detaining or confining the other person or by other means depriving such person of liberty of person and causing death or grievous bodily harm to the person, being the official wrongfully exercising his functions, coercing or inducing any person to deliver or to procure the property or any other benefit for oneself, being an official wrongfully exercising or not exercising any of his functions to the injury of any person or dishonestly exercising or omitting to exercise his functions, and other related offences. The Director-General submitted the case with the opinion recommending prosecution to the public prosecutor who later issued a non-prosecution order for the premeditated murder offence against Mr. Limlikitaksorn and the others. Subsequently, the Director-General of the DSI submitted the dissenting opinion against the non-prosecution order and the inquiry file to the Attorney-General for final decision under Section 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code read with Section 34 of the Special Case Investigation Act, B.E. 2547 (2004) as became public.

       At present the DSI has received the letter from the Office of the Attorney-General informing that the Attorney-General made the final prosecution order against Mr. Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn and the others for the offences of jointly committing murder on the other person by premeditation and for the purpose of securing the benefit obtained though the other offence or concealing the other offence or escaping punishment for the other offence committed by them, jointly using weapons for compelling the other person to do or not do any act or to suffer anything by putting him or her in fear of injury of life, body, liberty, reputation or property of him or her, jointly detaining or confining the other person or by other means depriving such person of liberty of person and causing death or grievous bodily harm to the person, and jointly committing in bad faith or concealing the case by committing any act on a corpse or a surrounding area where a corpse is found before the completion of the post-mortem inquest in the manner likely to have the post-mortem inquest or the result of the case changes under Sections 83, 91, 289 (4) (7), 309 and 310 of the Criminal Code, Section 4 of the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No.26), B.E. 2560, Section 150 bis of the Criminal Procedure Code and  Section 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act (No.21), B.E. 2542 in accordance with the dissenting opinion of the Director-General of the DSI. Afterwards, the case against all alleged offenders will be tried in court by the public prosecutor.

       This case is an important case seriously effecting the public order and moral with high-ranking government officials involved and regarded as a prominent forced disappearance case. The DSI is responsible for revealing the truth of this case. Its investigation and inquiring had been conducted by integrating work between sectors (public sector, private sector, universities) with multiple modern technologies employed as well as utilizing forensic techniques related to mitochondrial DNA to support the investigation and inquiry. The DSI is determined to prevent and suppress special crime with transparency and efficiency.

Dated August 16, 2022