Decision to take ‘vacation’ cost fugitive his freedom

Sources recount the events leading up to the capture of ‘Sia Paeng Nanod’ on Bali

Seven months after prisoner Chaowalit Thongduang, alias “Sia Paeng Nanod”, escaped while being taken to a hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat for dental care, he has finally been caught by police in a hideout in Indonesia.

The high-profile fugitive, who has been convicted of attempted murder, was detained on Thursday morning in Bali while on vacation there. He had used a fake Indonesian ID card when travelling by air to the resort island.

Chaowalit might have remained completely off the Thai police’s radar screen and could have enjoyed his freedom a little longer had he not resumed dealing drugs while in hiding in Indonesia.

According to the police investigation, Chaowalit had sealed a 2-million-baht drug deal with a local drug gang while in Medan in mid-May. The buyer owed him 2 million baht and had given up a member, identified only as Chawala, as collateral to Chaowalit to be held hostage until the gang found enough money to pay off the debt.

The Indonesian hostage was detained in a house in tambon Tha Khae in Muang district of Narathiwat, along with two Thai interpreters. A female police officer, attached to Provincial Police Region 9 and believed to have been close to Chaowalit, picked up the three when they arrived in the southern province and drove them to the safe house.

Several days after that, while the Indonesian gang still couldn’t find the 2 million baht to pay Chaowalit, Mr Chawala fabricated a version of events that depicted him being abducted for ransom and tortured in a staged video that he sent to his younger sister in Indonesia. He was hoping she would agree to pay the claimed 2-million-baht ransom to Chaowalit.

However, the fake ransom plot went awry when the sister transferred only 800,000 baht to Chaowalit and told the Indonesian police that her brother was being held hostage and tortured in Thailand. She also supplied the police with the exact location of the safe house.

Seeking cooperation with their Thai counterparts through the Indonesian embassy in Thailand, the Indonesian police successfully rescued Mr Chawala on May 14. By then, the Thai police had found out that the safe house belonged to the brother of Chaowalit’s wife, whom they had been looking for since his escape.

At that point, both the Thai and Indonesian authorities discovered that Chaowalit was involved in the transnational drug trade, which led them to later successfully locate his whereabouts in Medan. However, by the time the Indonesian police went to find him in Medan, the fugitive had left for a vacation in Bali.

Meanwhile, in Thailand, frequent visits to Medan by a woman who is believed to have been engaged in an extramarital affair with Chaowalit caught the attention of police last month and prompted a police team to be deployed to Indonesia on May 20.

The Thai police followed the woman in question to an apartment in Medan. There they met an Indonesian security guard who confirmed the woman had been there but had left following a quarrel with Chaowalit, who had gone to Bali, supposedly with another woman who is an Indonesian native.

The quarrel between the Thai woman and Chaowalit was said to have followed her discovery of Chaowalit’s infidelity. However, she wasn’t the person who had accompanied Chaowalit as previously thought. She was receiving treatment in hospital after breaking up on May 22 with Chaowalit, who went to Bali with a new woman.

In Thailand, Pol Sen Sgt Maj Phloenphit Chanthet, the female officer attached to Provincial Police Region 9, who was previously named by Chaowalit’s associate as an accomplice in the fake ransom, was arrested in Surat Thani.

Meanwhile, the extradition of Chaowalit could happen in the next day or two after his capture on Thursday, said the Royal Thai Police.

PolGen Kitrat Phanphet, the acting national police chief, yesterday said the force is coordinating with the Indonesian police, with Interpol facilitating the discussion between the two agencies.