The incident the BBC refers to at the beginning of the story, on Sukhumvit Road (not too far from The Emporium), was widely publicized and met with utter disgust by Thai and farang (Western) residents alike. Unfortunately, the parent’s money won out. No jail time seems forthcoming, and they’re still negotiating “settlements” with the injured. One just recently accepted 50,000 baht (about US$1587).
Not mentioned in the story is that this jerk got into ANOTHER accident just a month or so ago and once again started yelling, “Do you know who I am?” That is the common catchphrase of young punks here who get into altercations with people that they generally cause themselves, that and: “Do you know who my father is?” In the most recent accident, there was a renewed outcry, and it was reported they were thinking of taking his driver’s license away for life, but then it all died down.
Here in the USA, the elite and their children get away with murder (literally). Take the Kennedy family:Ted Kennedy left the scene of a fatal car accident (the “Chappaquiddick” incident). He paid a $50 fine and that was that. his son (Rep, patrick Kennedy0 was driving erratically in Washington DC-he was never arrested, or given a breathalizer test. Joesph kennedy (energy “entrepreneur”) drove a jeep thyat turned over 9due to reckless driving). a passenger of his (female) was paralyzed for life (broken back). This woman tried unsuccessfully to get some help from Kennedy-she was told “tough luck”.
The eleites have access to the best lawyers, and can grind down a plaintiff. They frequently get away scott free.
Duangchalerm Yubamrung surrendered to authorities in 2002. Best I can tell, he was acquitted in 2004. The eyewitnesses who initially identified him must have had cases of memory loss.
Yes, that was a notorious case, and he got off scot-free. That whole clan is scum even by Thai standards. They’re so bad that even the Thais notice. (Not that Thais are bad in general, it’s just they usually politely try not to see. But they notice the Yubamrungs!)
The father, Chalerm Yubamrung, somehow managed to amass a fortune as a police officer. His wife is a judge. They have three children who are holy terrors. Even before that murder of the undercover cop, they were always getting into trouble beating other people up. In one club, the son of a Thai diplomat to England seems to have stepped on the foot of one of them in a crowded club; he ended up in the hospital. Quite a few other instances; they were always making the news. The father tried to stand them for election from their constituency once, but they were roundly defeated.
At the time of that incident involving the undercover cop, which was in 2001, Chalerm the father was up for a Cabinet position in the new government – justice minister, as I recall, if you can believe that – but this case scotched that deal, as well as other of his political aspirations. Thais hoped that he would stay gone. But he is now our new Interior Minister. And one of the three holy terrors, Wanchalerm, has wangled a position in the Public Health Ministry. At first, Wanchalerm was placed in charge of a campaign to get youths to stop drinking, which was met with much derision, considering what a drunken yob he and his brothers are. In a twist of poetic justice, Wanchalerm has now been placed in charge of a campaign to promote flush toilets, and he has been given the official title – I swear I’m not making this up – of Mr. Happy Toilet. Really :D. See here and here. (He’s called Wan now instead of Wanchalerm, because after all involved got let off that cop-killing charge – the brothers had been named as accessories – a fortune-teller recommended altering their names a bit to thank the gods or whomever.)
The best we can figure is that he’s gritting his teeth and lumping it, because his father has ordered him to toe the line and try to help clean up the clan’s bad image.
Sadly, this is pretty common in countries with no rule of law. When we lived in Lebanon, the associate dean of students at the American University of Beirut and an official (either with the UN or France, I can’t remember) got run down by some rich kid in a Mercedes. The official died; the associate dean broke his hip among other injuries. For months after that, he had to use a cane to get around; I’d see him stumping around campus–mid-30’s and already crippled. The kid got off scott free because his dad had a lot of money and political juice. It was disgusting.
