Former Samut Prakan provincial administration organization (PAO) chairman Chonsawat Asavahame was escorted to the provincial prison to serve his 18-month imprisonment after the Supreme Court found him guilty of malfeasance in office and election fraud.
The court also sentenced in absentia Mr Pitichart Traisurat, former vice chairman of Samut Prakan PAO, to three years jailterm for similar offences. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Pitichart on June 22 after he failed to show up before the court claiming sickness but without a doctor’s certificate.
The case against the two men dated back to Samut Prakan municipal assembly election on May 2, 1999. Mr Chonsawat, then leader of the Paknam 2000 group, contested the election. During the election, one man was caught in a photograph putting “ghost” ballots into a ballot box.
The incident prompted other candidates to lodge complaints with the Samut Prakan’s Muang district police leading to an investigation and the prosecution of Mr Chonsawat and Mr Pitichart, then the vice mayor of the municipal.
The Samut Prakan provincial court sentenced Mr Chonsawat and Mr Pitichart to four years and six years imprisonment respectively. The duo appealed to the Appeals Court which handed down 18 months jailterm on Mr Chonsawat without suspension and three years on Mr Pitichart.
Reading of the Supreme Court’s verdict by the provincial court had been postponed five times after either of the two defendants asked for the postponement claiming sickness. The court finally set August 4 for the reading of the verdict and only Mr Chonsawat showed up.
The son of fugitive former deputy interior minister Vatana Asavahame, Mr Chonsawat was in June removed as chairman of Samut Prakan PAO by the National Council for Peace and Order after allegations of misuse of PAO’s budget.