‘Ramadan’ points out that the case of Tha Uthen’s deputy chief reinforces the culture of impunity.

Ramadan" points out that the district chief of Tha Uthen who fled the Tak Bai case has returned to work as usual, emphasizing the culture of impunity - a slap in the face of the entire Thai justice system, calling on the Minister of Interior and Defense to investigate and alleviate the people's doubts, emphasizing the need to urgently amend the law on the statute of limitations. Mr. Romdon Panjor, a party-list MP from the Prachachon Party, expressed his opinion on the case of the district chief of Tha Uthen, Nakhon Phanom Province, who was one of the suspects in the Tak Bai case who fled the case until the statute of limitations expired on October 25, 2024, and has returned to work as usual. He said that this case reflects a deeply ingrained culture of impunity, to the extent that civil servants fleeing arrest warrants for serious cases has become a normal practice without any need to take responsibility. In another way, it shows that this civil servant's return to work is a slap in the face of the police an d the Thai justice system itself, because in the past, it was almost impossible for the pursuit of individuals with arrest warrants to not work as they should. His return confirms the suspicion that the civil servants who fled the cases were complicit. Mr. Ramadan also called on the relevant agencies of the civil servants who fled the case, both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense, to investigate disciplinary matters to determine whether any officials were complicit in helping them flee the case or not. He also asked Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Mr. Phumtham Vejjayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, to urgently investigate to alleviate the doubts of the people in the southern border provinces and the relatives of those who lost their lives in the Tak Bai incident, that the government officials did not neglect their duties. Mr. Ramadan continued that this case also shows the problem of the Thai justice system regarding the sta tute of limitations in criminal cases that facilitates impunity. It is an indication that it is necessary to amend the Criminal Code regarding the statute of limitations in Section 95, which, as an MP, on the one hand, he will urgently discuss in the Tak Bai Justice Subcommittee, which is the result of the House of Representatives resolution on Friday, October 25, 2024, which assigned the Legal Affairs Committee to set up. On the other hand, he is preparing to draft an amendment to the statute of limitations law, which is currently being debated as to whether it should be amended only in cases where the statute of limitations is related to serious offenses so that there is no statute of limitations at all, or whether it should be amended to calculate the statute of limitations at each step of the justice process, such as when the investigator concludes the case and sends it to the prosecutor, the counting starts again. When the prosecutor sends the case to the court, the counting starts again, i.e., starting over every time there is progress in the case. All of this will require discussion to make proposals, filter the law, listen to opinions, and develop the draft law. 'Most importantly, in this case, the deputy mayor of Tha Uthen confirmed that it is necessary for us to amend the law. We can't just let it go like this. Once the statute of limitations has expired, they come back without taking any responsibility. This shows that there is a loophole in our law, which means that even civil servants don't have to do anything to be responsible. How can we make something that should be unusual normal like this?' said Mr. Romdon.-319.-Thai News Agency Source: Thai News Agency