Eight people in Thailand on trial over alleged hit-and-run crash involving Red Bull heir

Interpol has issued an international warning to Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya (pictured in 2012).
Photo: Somchai Poomlard/Bangkok Post via AFP

By means of Lauren DayABC South East Asia Correspondent

There’s a saying in Thailand: “Only the poor go to jail.” And no case proves this better than that of Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya.

In the early morning of September 3, 2012, the then 27-year-old allegedly drove his Ferrari into the back of a police officer’s motorcycle on a busy road in Bangkok.

The officer was thrown from the bike, dragged almost 200 meters under the car and died on the spot. But when the police arrived, Yoovidhya had already driven away.

A trail of oil leaking from the sports car led investigators to his luxury home. Medical tests conducted in the hours after the crash revealed alcohol and cocaine in his bloodstream.

Police initially accused Yoovidhya of driving 177 kilometers per hour in an 80 kilometers per hour zone.

He was subsequently charged with five felonies, including speeding, hitting and running and reckless driving resulting in death.

But 12 years later, the heir to a family fortune estimated at around $36 billion (New Zealand dollars 59.6 billion) has yet to appear in court.

Instead, the high-flying fugitive has spent more than a decade traveling the world in private jets to attend Formula One races, snowboard in Japan and cruise in Venice.

This week, eight people accused of helping him avoid punishment will appear before the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct (CCCM).

But what is really being tested is the widespread perception that there are two legal systems in the country: one for the rich and one for the poor.

‘A poisonous tree produces poisonous fruit’

It is alleged that the cover-up surrounding the accident even reached the top of the Thai police.

Among the eight appearing in court this week are former police chief Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung and former deputy attorney general Nate Naksuk.

The case concerns a decision not to prosecute Yoovidhya, as well as allegations that several suspects conspired to alter the recorded speed at which the Ferrari “Boss” was travelling.

Yoovidhya initially managed to avoid legal consequences by consistently not going to the public prosecutor. His lawyer claimed that he was ill or on a business trip abroad.

By the time an arrest warrant was issued for him in 2017, the grandson of late Red Bull founder Chaleo Yoovidhya had already fled abroad, where he remains.

Interpol later issued an international alert listing the billionaire playboy as “wanted.”

That same year, the statute of limitations expired on four of the charges against him, but police had until 2027 to prosecute the most serious charge: reckless driving causing death.

In 2020, the Public Prosecution Service (OAG) dropped all charges against him.

The prosecutor in charge of the case, Nate Naksuk, did not give a reason for the decision, but CNN reported that a letter from the OAG to police showed it was based on “new evidence” showing that Yoovidhya was not speeding at the time of the crash.

Instead of driving 177 km/h where the speed limit is 80 km/h, he was now driving an estimated 79 km/h.

That claim was apparently supported by two other witnesses, one of whom died suddenly in a motorcycle accident before he could provide further evidence.

Shortly after the decision was made to drop the case, then-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appointed a panel to investigate the handling of the case.

The Fact-Finding and Legal Investigation Commission concluded that there was a conspiracy to protect Yoovidhya from prosecution and accused the Deputy Attorney General of acting unlawfully to protect him.

“We have established that there was an organised attempt to create an unfair case,” said commission chair Vicha Mahakhun.

“You could describe the coordinated effort as a conspiracy to damage the case from the start.

“We have a saying: ‘A poisonous tree produces poisonous fruit.’ The fruit is inedible.”

Now the branches of that poisonous tree are finally being examined, but few have confidence that justice will be done.

Allegations of police corruption not new

The Red Bull case is just one of many cases that have angered the public and caused them to lose faith in the country’s justice system.

There are allegations that police officers are involved in criminal gangs, oil smuggling and illegal gambling networks.

There was also the high-profile case of Joe Ferrari, the police chief with a garage full of luxury cars and a famous girlfriend, who was allegedly involved in torturing a suspect to death.

Transparency International ranks Thailand a lowly 108th out of 180 countries in its latest Corruption Perception Index.

A poll earlier this year found that the police are the least trusted institution in Thailand, with more than 70 percent of respondents saying they were distrustful and nearly two-thirds saying they had no confidence in the police’s anti-corruption department.

According to popular TV presenter and political commentator John Winyu, Thai people have become accustomed to stories of police corruption.

“I don’t want to say there is no hope, but it is common for Thai people to say they have lost faith in the justice system,” he told the ABC.

He said that too many police officers put themselves above the law and that Thailand has a different system for rich and poor.

“The sons or daughters of the police are quite wealthy, you know. They drive Porsches, they drive Ferraris, they drive Mercedes-Benzes and they mix with the elite,” he said.

“They go to international schools together, they go to the same universities, they go abroad together, so the bond with the elite is strong.

“So for the poor, or even middle class people, it’s very difficult to get out of a crime if they don’t have a connection with the police, because they’ll demand money or they won’t help you.”

According to Winyu, these kinds of high-profile corruption cases are damaging to the country’s reputation at a time when Thailand needs foreign investment.

“The Thai economy is in a terrible state at the moment and the middle class and working class are struggling. So we really need foreign money,” he told the ABC.

“But given the unreliable legal system, it is unlikely that large foreign investors will come.”

He said he expects the case before the CCCM will lead to some punishment for those accused of covering up the fatal Ferrari crash, but it will likely be too little, too late.

“I think the Thai people experience it as unfair anyway.

“They’re trying to put on a show or make us feel like someone is going to jail, but we all know that’s not justice.

“And the sad thing is that the police officer who was killed, who was murdered, and his family, will not get justice.”

-ABC