Jail terms upheld for Bhumjaithai bombers

The Supreme Court has upheld prison sentences handed down by the Appeal Court to five people in connection with a plot to blow up the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters in June 2010.

The five are Dechpol Phuthajong, a 62-year-old merchant; Kampol Khamkhong, a 48-year-old motorcycle taxi driver; Kobchai Boonplod, a 49-year-old merchant; Warisriya Boonsom, a 49-yearold interior designer; and Suriya Phumwong, a 45-year-old bang fai makeshift rocket maker.

The Appeal Court on Sept 21, 2015, sentenced Dechpol, Kampol, Kobchai and Warisriya each to four years in jail for conspiring to cause an explosion and for possessing explosives.

The court also fined each of them 66.66 baht for carrying illegal explosives in public areas.

Suriya was given two years and eight months in jail by the Appeal Court for assembling the bomb used in the June 2010 explosion.

However, while the case was being appealed in the Appeal Court, Suriya jumped bail, prompting the court to confiscate his guarantor’s 500,000 baht and approve an arrest warrant for him.

The attack in June 2010 occurred while the Bhumjaithai Party was a coalition partner in the government of then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. All the defendants were members of an anti-government movement.

The Court of First Instance ruled on Sept 16, 2013 that there was insufficient evidence to prove Warisriya’s alleged involvement in the Bhumjaithai Party bomb plot.

The Appeal Court later however ruled that although Warisriya did not take part in the actual bombing, it was proved that she kept checking on the progress of the attack in a number of phone calls.

The Supreme Court yesterday said it believed the testimonies of the other defendants who said they assembled the bomb at Warisriya’s house.

The court based its decision on statements given to police by Dechpol, Kampol and Suriya a couple of days after their arrests. The court said yesterday that it was unlikely they invented a story to falsely accuse Warisriya.

The court also based its decision to uphold the sentence for Warisriya on other evidence and witness statements, not solely the accusations made against her by the three defendants.

The Supreme Court on July 22 last year jailed another co-defendant Anek Singkhuntot for 27 years and six months for carrying out the attack in which he was blinded. The court also ordered him to pay a 50-baht fine.