Ex-park chief rejects claims Premchai begged for help
Former senior park official Noppadol Preuksawan has denied he was contacted to help secure the release of construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta, who was arrested earlier for poaching at a wildlife sanctuary in Kanchanaburi.
Mr Premchai, the 63-year-old president of Italian-Thai Development
Plc (ITD), was apprehended along with three other alleged accomplices at Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary on
Feb 4. They were found to be in possession of the butchered carcasses of protected wild animals.
Wichien Chinawong, chief of the sanctuary, told police Mr Premchai claimed Mr Noppadol, the former chief of Protected Area Regional Office
6 in Songkhla, under the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), would provide information to get him off the hook.
This information prompted the Counter Corruption Division (CCD) to summon Mr Noppadol for questioning yesterday. The interrogation lasted two hours.
CCD commander Kamol Rianracha said after the questioning Mr Noppadol admitted to police he had contacted Kanchana Nittaya, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, to help Mr Premchai’s group enter the sanctuary. Mr Noppadol also asked for the telephone number of Mr Wichien from Ms Kanchana to offer ways for the group to get in, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said.
Mr Noppadol also t old investigators that Mr Premchai’s trip to the sanctuary was not aimed at poaching, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said.
Officers are expected to wrap up the case in which Mr Premchai allegedly tried to bribe officers by the end of this month, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said.
Mr Noppadol told reporters he had nothing to do with Mr Premchai’s hunting case.
He previously served as a senior official at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and as a director of the National Park Office under the DNP. After retiring as chief of Protected Area Regional Office 6 in Songkhla he has worked as an adviser to ITD.