Following a two monthlong investigation into the death of Thai actress Nida “Tango” Patcharaveerapong, who drowned in the Chao Phraya River on the night of February 24, police have charged all five of her boating buddies, plus a person who allegedly consulted them, and given a summary of their investigation.
In a press conference today at the office of Provincial Police Region 1 in Bangkok, police failed to conclude whether or not the actress’ death was an accident or murder. Instead, they ambiguously comcluded that her drowning was indeed caused by the “recklessness” of someone on the boat, but did not identify which suspect was to blame. According to commander in chief of Provincial Police Region 1, Lt. Gen. Chirapat Phumchit…
“Tangmo didn’t fall into the river by her own recklessness, but there was someone who was reckless and led to her death.”
Notably, police said only the suspect known as “Sand” had claimed that Tangmo had gone to the back of the boat to pee; the other suspects had not mentioned it in their testimonies. But police did not say whether Sand’s claim was true or false, nor did they charge her with giving false statements.
Police also confirmed that the time indicated on the photo showing Tangmo and her manager “Gatick” posing on the boat in front of Rama VII Bridge that fateful night is indeed the correct time; it had not been changed, contrary to popular speculation.
During their hourlong presentation, police presented a half hour video, which included three parts: a summary of the investigation from the beginning until now and a review of the evidence from forensics examinations; a report on the investigation of the suspects, including their testimonies; an address of the grievances from Thai media and social media, with explanations for various questions.
Notably, police presented a detailed timeline of events, including an analysis of the boat’s route according to GPS, as well as various images taken from the actress’ phone and CCTV footage. They ended their presentation with a Q&A session with Thai media.
During the press conference, Chirapat confirmed that the case is complete and there is no point in making further examinations. Therefore, police submitted their collected evidence and reports to prosecutors today for consideration, as the investigation draws to a close and the case enters the next phase in court.
But Chirapat emphasised that this is not the conclusion of the Tangmo case, as many media outlets have reported. Rather, it’s the next step in the judicial process, in which police must submit their reports and evidence for the public prosecutor to form an opinion.
Police today submitted their collected evidence to public prosecutors in the form of 8 large files, which containing 335 pieces of “evidence” — including 47 documents from the two autopsy reports, 88 pieces of physical evidence, 200 videos, including footage from 70 CCTV cameras, and 2,000 documents with a total of nearly 2,500 pages.
During the lengthy investigation, Nonthaburi Provincial Police, together with officers from Provincial Police Region 1, questioned 6 suspects (the 5 people on the boat, plus their alleged adviser) and 124 other people, including 26 people who were in contact with the suspects, 62 witnesses, 16 specialists and 20 “officers”.
After revealing the charges today, police temporarily released all six suspects. It’s unclear whether they paid bail.
Here is a summary of the charges being pressed against all five boating buddies, plus the persons who allegedly consulted them about how to lie to place after the incident occurred.
Tanuphat “Por” Lertthaweewit (boat owner)
• Reckless driving leading to death. 10 years jail time + fine up to 200,000
• Driving a boat without a license
• Tossing trash or garbage into the river
• Refusal to indicate the name of the boat
• Driving a boat with an expired boat registration license
Paiboon “Robert” Treekanchananan (boat skipper)
• Reckless driving leading to death (10 years jail time + fine up to 200,000 baht)
• Driving a boat without a license
• Tossing trash or garbage into the river
• Driving a boat with an expired boat registration license
Wisapat “Sand” Manomairat (transgender woman and manager)
• Reckless driving leading to death (10 years jail time + fine up to 200,000 baht)
Nitat “Job” Kiratisut Sathorn (mutual friend)
• Helping others evade criminal penalties or destroying evidence
• Tossing trash or garbage into the river
Itsarin “Gatick” Jutha Suksawat (longtime manager)
• Helping others evade criminal penalties or destroying evidence
• Filing fake complaints to officers
Phim “M” Thamtheerasri (“lawyer” who coached the five suspects how to present their stories to police)
• Helping others evade criminal penalties or destroy evidence
• Filing fake complaints to officers