CHIANG RAI – The Region 5 Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct has sentenced two army trainers after a 27-year-old conscript died following a punishment at a well-known military camp in Chiang Rai.
On Thursday, the criminal court read its ruling in a case brought by prosecutors from the Region 5 Anti-Corruption Litigation Office. The dead soldier’s wife, Kaewkanya Saelee, joined as a co-plaintiff, along with the soldier’s father, Mr. Suwit Wiangbanphot.
The victim was 27-year-old Private Kittithon, a first-round conscript. He died at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital on 16 July 2023. Doctors said the cause of death was a bloodstream infection and pneumonia.
The defendants were a lieutenant (trainer) and a staff sergeant (assistant trainer). They were charged under the 2022 Act on the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance, Sections 6 and 36, together with Section 83 of the Criminal Code. The case centred on an incident in July 2023, at night, when trainers found several conscripts smoking in the sleeping quarters, which broke military rules.
Prosecutors said the lieutenant allowed the assistant trainer to order group punishment for the whole unit, including Private Kittithon. The group was made to do physical training drills from 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm, for longer than was reasonable. After that, the men were ordered to sleep outside for the entire night.
The court heard that the conditions were harsh. The deceased had damp clothing, and some soldiers had no bedding. The weather was colder than usual because it had rained earlier that day.
The prosecutors said that, went against an army order dated 14 June 2023 on disciplinary punishment and exercise. The order set limits on exercise-based punishment for recruits, no more than 12 moves or 12 minutes per session.
It also barred “group” punishment and warned against actions that could risk harm. It also required a rest period of at least 2 to 3 hours before sleep, within the 6.00 pm to to9.00 pm window. The defendants pleaded not guilty.
Why the court found them guilty
The court said the key issue was whether both men committed the offence as charged. The prosecution called four witnesses, along with both co-plaintiffs. Their evidence described the defendants’ actions in detail and was consistent.
The court also considered the wife’s account, which came from what the deceased had told her about the punishment. The judges said it sounded like a partner sharing daily hardships, not an attempt to frame anyone.
Documentary evidence included the 14 June 2023 army order. The court said the defendants’ own statements matched parts of the prosecution’s case.
The court accepted that the deceased was in normal health before the punishment and remained in the camp throughout. Two days after the incident, he became ill, was later diagnosed with a bacterial infection (described in court as “mud fever”), and died nine days after the punishment.
Doctors testified about the illness and how it lined up with the conditions described in the punishment. The court said the defence evidence did not outweigh the prosecution’s case. The court ruled that both defendants committed cruel and inhuman treatment, or treatment that degraded human dignity, under the 2022 law.
Both were sentenced to one year in prison. The court reduced the sentence by one third after finding the defence evidence helped the case move forward, leaving eight months’ imprisonment each. The sentence was not suspended.
The court later granted bail pending appeal. Each defendant was released on 60,000 baht bail, with a ban on leaving Thailand.
