Premchai’s wife to meet cops

The wife of embattled Italian-Thai Development president Premchai Karnasuta has said she will report to police over the illegal possession of four African elephant tusks on Tuesday.

Ms Khanitta’s promise came as police were preparing to issue a second summons after she, along with another suspect on the same charge, failed to meet officers of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division on March 14.

Reportedly, deputy national police chief Pol Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, who is overseeing a probe into poaching charges against Mr Premchai, raised no objection after receiving letters seeking a rescheduling of the appointment date.

Ms Khanitta claimed she was unable to meet the investigators last Wednesday because she was occupied attending a “court training session”, while the other suspect, identified as Wandi Somphum, said she could not attend because she had received the summons only one day in advance.

Ms Khanitta earlier informed authorities the tusks, which were found after officers raided Mr Premchai’s mansion in Bangkok, belonged to domestic elephants and Ms Wandi signed a document of assertion.

However, genetic testing found the ivory came from an African species, which cannot be registered under Thai law.

Failure to keep the appointment will lead to a second summons or arrest warrant being issued.

Ms Khanitta’s husband is also accused of jointly possessing the illegal tusks.

Mr Premchai acknowledged the charge, as well as two others of illegal gun possession and bribery, last Wednesday.

They are three of a total of 12 charges against Mr Premchai after he and three subordinates were arrested by wildlife officials for alleged poaching in Thungyai Naresuan wildlife sanctuary in Kanchanaburi on Feb 4.

The officials found the carcasses of protected species, including the pelt of a black Indochinese leopard, as well as a knife and cutting blocks with traces of the leopard’s DNA at the suspects’ camp.