The alleged cheating was found to have used the same method as previous cases at the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) and Provincial Police Region 7– with university students who took the test allegedly showing the correct answers to other applicants |for a fee, Charnthep said.

The investigation was ongoing, Charnthep said, and his office would submit a report on its |findings to the Royal Thai Police tomorrow.

National police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda is expected to announce his response tomorrow to the scandal, which could involve the complete or |partial cancellation of exam results or other action.

Arrest warrants were issued for 51 university students and a Bangkok Thesakij city regulation enforcement officer allegedly involved in the MPB cheating.

POLICE investigators have asked the Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for a Ratchaburi-based kamnan over his alleged role in the abduction and murder of 28-year-old Supaksorn Polthaisong last month, a police source revealed |yesterday.

It is alleged an abduction gang was hired by Ban Pong Police Station superintendent Colonel Amnuay Pongsawat, 58, who consulted with the kamnan known as “Sor”, who is aged in his 50s, to help arrange the team to abduct Supaksorn.

It alleged the kamnan turned Amnuay down but suggested Amnuay contact his subordinate, Niwat Suaythong, 32.

Amnuay allegedly hired Niwat and the other gang members for Bt200,000 to abduct Supaksorn from her apartment in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem district on the night of December 13.

They allegedly killed and buried her in an abandoned resort in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district where her body was found on Wednesday.

Four of seven wanted suspects – Amnuay, Niwat, Kannikar Krumram, 38, and Phumithat Phiboonsawat, 24 – were in custody yesterday, while former soldiers, Chaiyuth Benchat, 41, and Panumet Meela, 34, and former policeman Samart Saengsin, 50, were at large.

Police yesterday separately questioned Phumithat and Kannikar. Kannikar, accused of providing information to the alleged abductors, has denied all charges against her.

Police also made Phumithat do a crime re-enactment at the victim’s apartment under the watch of defence lawyers.

The two suspects were then brought to Taling Chan Court where police obtained detention orders against them and objected to them being released on bail.

Amnuay, who has been suspended from his police job, and Niwat were ordered detained until January 23 and denied bail after being deemed a flight risk. There were also fears they might try to tamper with evidence.

Supaksorn’s mother Sompit Traijandaeng insisted yesterday her daughter was not a gambling addict and did not believe she borrowed Bt4 million from Amnuay’s alleged mistress Kannikar – the reason the policeman claimed as a motive for the abduction.

Sompit said she wished Supaksorn’s spirit would forgive her attackers and rest in peace without worrying about her and her younger brother. She urged the authorities to bring the culprits to justice.

Sompit said she heard about Supaksorn’s regular arguments with Kannikar and advised Supaksorn to stay away from the woman.

She claimed that Kannikar told her after Supaksorn was abducted that “a man named Loong (‘Uncle’) only took her to teach her a lesson” so Sompit did not think that they would resort to killing her daughter.

As the family was seeking a pro bono lawyer to handle the case, Sompit and ex-husband Boonchu Polthaisong met yesterday with Lawyers Council spokesman Sombat Wongkhamhaeng.

Sombat affirmed to them that the council provided legal aid in criminal and civil lawsuits in all steps, starting with the police investigation and evidence gathering and progressing to the trial.

Sombat also said the council would coordinate with related agencies, including the Rights and Liberties Protection Department and an insurance company, to secure them their entitled compensation and remedial measures.

At 3pm yesterday Sompit collected Supaksorn’s body in preparation for her funeral in Sa Kaew province.

She quoted a doctor at Police General Hospital’s morgue as saying her daughter died from asphyxiation, while the initial autopsy found no assault wounds on her body and the full autopsy results would come out in over a week.

A source at the morgue said examiners initially found no trace of a third person’s DNA under her fingernails or other parts of the body and there was no evidence she had been sexually assaulted.

The alleged cheating was uncovered by the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) and the Provincial Police Region 7.

Dechnarong said he and a fact-finding panel – comprising representatives from the MPB, Provincial Police regions one to nine, the Southern Border Provinces Police Bureau and the Border Patrol Police Bureau – had come up with possible responses to the scandal and police commissioner General Chakthip Chaijinda would consider them on Monday.

He will consider whether to completely or partially cancel the exam results or implement another response, Dechnarong said.

“As for this case’s arrest warrant issuance, there are 52 wanted persons as the MPB had said. We will proceed with legal actions against those implicated by evidence without exception,” he said.

The 52 suspects comprise 51 university students who took the exam and revealed the answers to others for money and a Bangkok Thesakij city regulation enforcement officer who allegedly arranged the scam.

The arrest warrant request for the 52 is still being considered by the Criminal Court, which is awaiting further evidence, an informed source reported yesterday.

On Sunday, MPB Training Centre chief Pol Colonel Uthen Nuiphin filed a complaint alleging exam cheating against Pathumwan-based Thesakij officer Jiraphot Plaidoung and 347 applicants. Jiraphot, who surrendered to police on Tuesday, reportedly confessed to arranging the cheating and was released on bail the following day.

Deputy city police chief Maj-General Adul Narongsak, who is on the MPB investigation team, yesterday visited Phaholyothin Police Station to follow up on the progress of the case.

He said the team was making preparations to interview those allegedly involved in the crime, but the case report had not progressed much as officers had to study over 13,000 pages of document evidence in detail. However he expected clarity regarding Jiraphot’s alleged network later yesterday.

Adul said police had informed the educational institutes whose students were allegedly involved in the exam-cheating service.

Thawatchai said former Sakhon Nakhon schoolteacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot – who served 18 months in prison for a 2005 hit-and-run crime that she did not commit – would be entitled almost Bt165,000 in compensation from the Justice Ministry, while her reinstatement as a teacher was up to the Education Ministry.

As Jomsap’s retrial is set for January 16, Thawatchai said the authorities would wait until the court exonerated her before they push for remedial |measures.

Based on the Damages for the Injured Person and Compensation and Expenses for the Accused in Criminal Case Act, Jomsap would be entitled to the daily minimum wage of Bt300 |for each of the 548 days she was |incarcerated, adding up to Bt164,400 in compensation.

She will also be entitled to claim other compensation, including up to Bt40,000 in medical treatment, up to Bt50,000 in mental health rehabilitation, up to Bt40,000 in lawyers’ fees and court trial expenses.

Based on the Act, a person whose human rights have been violated due to detention pending trial and who turn out to be innocent, is entitled to up to Bt40,000 medical compensation, up to Bt20,000 in mental and physical rehab.

Compensation for loss of earnings while in detention is based on the minimum daily wage.

In the event of death, compensation could reach Bt100,000.

But thanks to some private groups, boats carrying toys and snacks reached them – giving the kids some joy amid the gloom.

“Because of the floods, I have lost all my clothes,” a boy said. “There’s no clothes coming today. But the gifts from boats have made me over the moon. In such circumstances, I can still get some snacks.”

Many private groups are now active in the relief operations in the South.

Jatupat’s legal team is planning to appeal the bail request on Monday, Krisadang said.

“We proposed that Jatupat would have to sit for an examination at his university,” Krisadang said. “It would also be okay for us if the court would like to increase the bail amount.”

The lawyers yesterday offered another Bt500,000 for Jatupat’s bail, in another attempt to get him out of a month-long detention, so that he can do his final exam.

Wiboon Boonpattararaksa, Jatupat’s father, said the latest bail request came with new conditions and Jatupat was prepared to accept any additional conditions that may be imposed that would permit him to be released from jail to sit for his final exam.

Jatupat was charged on December 3 with violating the two laws after he shared a BBC Thai report about the monarchy on his Facebook page. The article was shared by more than 2,000 people. He was released on Bt400,000 bail the following day.

However, an investigator from Khon Kaen police filed a petition with the court, saying that Jatupat continued to incite the public on social media and could tamper with evidence if he were to be free. Further posts on his Facebook page after the release were seen to have ridiculed authorities.

The court ruled that he had broken the bail agreement, which banned him from getting involved in drugs, tampering with evidence or causing damage after being released. The Appeal Court upheld the first court’s ruling, and the Supreme Court ruled last week that rulings by both courts were lawful. He is now on his fourth 12-day round of detention.

Early this week, a group of student activists also submitted a petition signed by more than 3,500 people to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), asking it to look into the rejection of bail requests.