Before Thailand’s biggest human-trafficking scandal broke in 2015, Manas Kongpan was a respectable lieutenant general, Suwan Saengthong a major seafood trader in Ranong province, Pajjuban Angchotephan a high-flying businessman from Lipe Island, and Banjong Pongphon the mayor of the Padang Besar Municipality.

Their role in the trafficking of migrants has destroyed their reputations and their lives.

Following the guilty verdict, all four have received widespread condemnation and lengthy jail terms.

Had Manas not been involved in human trafficking, he could have still enjoyed a remarkable military career.

He graduated from the prestigious Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS), studying alongside General Chalermchai Sittisart, the current Army chief, and General Thawip Netniyom, the current secretary-general of the National Security Council.

After Manas joined the Army, he steadily climbed the career ladder getting regular promotions. But in 2010, he was posted to Ranong province where he met Suwan – who ran a legitimate seafood trade in the open, but was involved in human trafficking behind the scenes.

There are no details about how exactly the two are connected, but evidence showed that Suwan transferred at least Bt14 million to Manas’s bank accounts.

The transfer records became evidence to implicate Manas in human trafficking that spanned several southern provinces. The victims were mostly Rohingya people from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Even though Manas was a high-ranking specialist in the Army at the time of his arrest in 2015, he was not granted bail.

Pajjuban was also once so influential in his hometown that he was dubbed the “Godfather of Koh Lipe”.

His Angchotephan family was often credited with developing Koh Lipe – now a famous tourist island in Satun province.

Pajjuban owned a number of businesses, from fisheries to hotels.

The court found that Pajjuban had used his connections not just for legitimate businesses but also illegal for human trafficking.

Banjong was at the helm of the Padang Besar Municipality for several years until the human-trafficking scandal exposed his dark side.

AS MUCH AS 20 per cent of the state budget of Bt40 billion for the government’s free-education initiative remains unspent at schools, a study has revealed.

“It is probably because schools lack adequate skills to manage the budget efficiently and because officials from central agencies check the schools just once a year,” Assoc Prof Dr Chaiyuth Punyasavatsut of the Thammasat University said yesterday.

The university joined hands with the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund to conduct the study on spending related to the government’s project to provide 15 years of free education.

The project offers free education by allocating a budget for tuition, textbooks, student uniforms, learning materials and student improvement.

Obec deputy secretary-general Narong Paewpolsong said the project covered 6.2 million students.

Conducted among 250 schools across the country, the study has detected several problems related to state spending.

“The textbook budget arrives about 24 days after the new semester starts. Schools distribute learning materials long after the start of the semester, 17 days for the first semester and 37 days for the second semester on average,” Chaiyuth said.

He added that by the end of the second fiscal year, the project had Bt8.2billion still remaining in the hands of schools.

Obec allocated the budget based on information provided by schools, he said.

“The lack of a proper checks-and-balances mechanism causes ethical issues,” Chaiyuth said.

The study recommended that schools release information on the budget and student performance to communities to promote greater transparency.

Chaiyuth said the lack of an integrated educational-information database was also to blame for the budget problem and a redundant student name list.

In a related development, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha complained that when the educational sector lacked an integrated IT system, there were problems with redundancies.

“Students may have already moved to a new school, but their old school still uses their names to claim a budget,” he said after chairing a meeting of the education-reform committee yesterday.

Established under the new constitution, the committee has been tasked with reforming the country’s education sector.

Prayut said there were several educational problems, including teachers’ production, and processes in teaching, learning and testing.

“We need to pay attention to budget usage. We need to find out whether the budget really goes to what it is meant for. We need to check if there is redundancy when we plan education budgets as well,” he said.

Prayut also said he hoped education reform would deliver tangible results within a year or during the remaining term of his government.

The priority, he said, should go to a structural overhaul and serious problems.

“Other parts of the reform may be prescribed in the country’s education master plan,” Prayut said.

The junta launched a crackdown in May 2015 on a network of corrupt officials and gangmasters who made millions funnelling desperate migrants through southern Thailand and onto Malaysia, holding some for ransom in jungle camps.

It unspooled a crisis across Southeast Asia as traffickers abandoned their human cargo in the camps where hundreds died from starvation and malaria, and at sea in overcrowded boats which were then “ping ponged” between Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian waters.

The most senior government figure among the 62 people convicted on Wednesday was Lieutenant-General Manas Kongpan, who received 27 years for multiple human trafficking charges and other offences.

A judge at Bangkok Criminal Court said he was also guilty of complicity in a “transnational organised crime” network and “worked with others to facilitate human trafficking”.

It is extremely rare for senior military figures in Thailand to see the inside of a courtroom, let alone a jail.

Others received even more severe punishments. One Myanmar national who helped run the jungle camps got 94 years in jail, at least 17 others got terms more than seven decades long. Under Thai law, however, the maximum sentence a prisoner serves is 50 years.

Manas was a top figure in the security apparatus covering Thailand’s south — a key transit zone in a trafficking trail that stretched from Myanmar to Malaysia.

The court heard he received bank transfers from trafficking agents worth 14.8 million baht ($440,000).

But the police investigation found he also used his position to guide trafficking gangs around checkpoints after their arrival on remote beaches as they headed to the jungle camps.

In 2013 he was promoted to head the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) for the entire south. Current junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha was army chief at the time.

Before the crackdown rights groups had long accused officials of ignoring — and even conducting — the trade in humans through Thailand’s southern provinces.

The trial revealed a lattice of military, police, local political and mafia figures acting as traffickers, agents and logistics men, all soaking up cash from some of Asia’s poorest migrants.

Soldiers and kingpins

Some reporting restrictions were placed by judges citing national security and Manas was allowed to give evidence behind closed doors.

Another well-connected kingpin convicted on Wednesday was Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, better known as Ko Tong or ‘Big Brother Tong’.

Police accused him of using private Andaman Sea islands, close to tourist spots such as Koh Lipe, to shift boatloads of migrants to the mainland, where they were packed into lorries and taken to the fetid camps straddling the Malaysia border.

He was found guilty of human trafficking and links to organised crime with judges giving him 75 years.

Throughout the marathon sentencing hearing dozens of people, including two police officers, were convicted of various offences, ranging from guarding the squalid migrant camps to trafficking and negligence.

Some 40 defendants were acquitted including an army captain and a senior police officer while one died awaiting trial.

‘Big business, big money’

Thailand’s role as a key trafficking route spilled into full view after officials found dozens of shallow graves in the hidden camps dotting the steep, forested hills of the Thai-Malaysian border in May 2015.

They revealed the horrors endured by some of the migrants, who were starved and held in bamboo pens by traffickers who demanded over $1,000 for their release.

The verdict is being closely-watched inside and outside Thailand. The government is desperate to dispel the kingdom’s notorious reputation for human trafficking.

Earlier on Wednesday Junta chief Prayut angrily denied the case reflected systemic corruption within the security services.

“Manas alone will not make the entire military collapse,” he told reporters.

Critics say the case was prematurely concluded and describe a trial marred by witness intimidation, secret evidence hearings and restrictions on media reporting.

“We expect there are many more perpetrators out there,” Amy Smith, from Fortify Rights, told AFP.

“This is a big business with big money.”

The senior policeman who initially headed the investigation, Major General Paween Pongsirin, fled Thailand under threats to his life.

Days before he left, he told AFP the case had been ordered closed before he could delve any further into the complicity of officials.

Those convicted included Lt-General Manas Kongpan, who headed the Internal Security Operations Command for the entire South before his arrest, and Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, a prominent local politician and administrator.

The conviction of a senior Army officer was an extremely rare event in junta-ruled Thailand.

“The defendant worked with others to facilitate human trafficking,” read the verdict against Manas, who was found to have played a key role in a transnational crime organisation.

The court spent all of Wednesday reading a 500-page verdict on 102 defendants charged with trafficking migrants, most of whom were ethnic Rohingya people from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

They were charged with involvement in the modern-day slave trade in a case that focused international attention on the regional migrant crisis two years ago.

Manas was arrested in 2015 along with several other security officials and politicians from local administrations in the southern Satun province, following the discovery of a mass grave in a jungle shelter in the border district of Sadao, where traffickers had hidden their victims.

The court found that Manas, Police Colonel Charn U-thong and Pol Sub-Lieutenant Narathon Samphan were guilty of human trafficking and organising a transborder crime syndicate.

The case involved 103 defendants but one of them died during the trial.

Ten defendants, including two police officers, were acquitted based on insufficient evidence.

The court summarised witness accounts depicting the responsibilities of suspects who ran the Rohingya detention camp in the Khao Kaew hills of Sadao district, from where the Rohingya were smuggled to Malaysia.

The verdict also dwelled on witness accounts about the violence used by traffickers in charge of food and water supplies.

The court related testimony that not enough food and water was provided to the detained Rohingya, who faced death threats designed to prevent them from using their phones or fleeing the camp. The court also said it had been told that victims were beaten up when they asked for more food and water.

The court also found another high-profile defendant, Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, guilty of human trafficking, organising a cross-border crime syndicate and bringing illegal migrants into the Kingdom.

Widely known as “Ko Tong”, Pajjuban is the former chief of Satun Provincial Administrative Organisation. Public prosecutors accused him of using private islands in the Andaman, sea close to tourist spots such as Koh Lipe, to shift boatloads of migrants to the mainland, where they were packed into lorries and taken to camps straddling the Malaysian border.

He recorded the incident for a video clip in which he said he was trying to determine which coins were the strongest.

State Railway of Thailand (SRT) officials filed charges with Prawes police against Bartling, 24, and his friend, Nut Weerotai, 23, who also appeared in the clip. The SRT alleged that the pair had trespassed on its property.

Pol Colonel Alongkorn Sirisongkram, of Prawes police station, said that Bartling and Nut met police as summonsed to acknowledge the charges.

They were found guilty of several charges concerning acts shown in the video clip, Alongkorn said, adding that the Bt5,000 levied on both Bartling and his friend was for a breach of a law prohibiting anyone from placing things on a public byway that could create obstacles to safety and traffic.

“The fine of Bt5,000 is the maximum, so that young people will not try to copy or repeat it,” Alongkorn said.

Alongkorn said he also informed Bartling that he faced a charge of animal cruelty arising from another of his video clips that showed a cat fighting with a scorpion.

Bartling is alleged to have organised and recorded the fight, then posted the video clip on his Facebook page. Many cat lovers sought police action against him, alleging animal cruelty. More than 120,000 people have also signed a petition to have him arrested.

Alongkorn quoted Bartling as saying that he did not organise the fight. “He said that when he returned home, he saw the cat fighting with the scorpion. He said he may have been wrong to video the fight but after that, he took the cat to see a vet who found that it was not injured.”

The punishment for animal cruelty is a jail term of two years, a fine of not more than Bt40,000 or both.

A representative of a cat lovers’ group met police at the station and insisted that they further investigate the matter, as the group was concerned that others would imitate Bartling’s actions.

Police have about 20 days to collect information about the alleged animal cruelty. Bartling was freed temporarily as he came to see police of his own accord, officers said.

Janpop Weeraporn, 37, a wealthy businessman, will also have his driving licence revoked for life.

The court initially jailed Janepob for five years but reduced the sentence to two years and six months as he confessed and provided information that was useful to the investigation.

It is not known whether Janpop will be granted bail.

The defendant was driving his Mercedes-Benz at a speed of at least 215 kilometres per hour when it crashed into the rear of a Ford Sedan, the court heard. The sedan caught fire on impact, killing passengers Thanthapat Horsaengchai, 34, and Kritsana Thaworn, 32.

Both were post-graduate students at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University majoring in Peace Studies and scheduled to receive their degrees in April last year.

Kanchana Horsaengchai, Thanthapat’ sister, appeared at the court before the verdict was delivered. She said her family’s state of mind had improved since the accident.

Since the accident, the defendant has not contacted the family about the case.

It has been reported that because of the accident, Thanthapat’s father decided to enter the monkhood and does not plan to leave it.

The suspects have been detained and interrogated at the 15th Infantry Battalion in Klong Thom district after an order under the interim charter’s all-powerful Article 44 allowed security officers to detain them without warrants for up to a week.

The eight are alleged mastermind Surifath “Bang Fath” Bannoppawongsakul, Prachak Boontoy, Khomsan Wiangnon, Abdulloh Doloh, Arun Thongkham, Thawatchai Boonkhong, Thanachai Chamnong and Chalita Sangkhachote.

The July 10 massacre reportedly related to a land and financial dispute shocked the nation after Worayuth Sunglung, a village head in Krabi’s Ao Luk district, and 10 of his family members were found shot execution-style.

Eight of the victims were killed including women and children.

“They filed a complaint against Sumalee Lertwilai, claiming that they were cheated into investing in ‘magic’ amulets via Facebook,” said Col Vitoon Kongsutjai of Phuket Provincial Police.

According to a representative of the victims, Atchariya Rueangrattanapong, Ms Sumalee operated a Facebook page called ‘Pumpuy Apple Shop’.

“We were told that the the amulets were made of special wood imported from Myanmar worth hundreds of thousands of baht and were ‘infused with magic’ by famous magicians. She also claimed that those who used them would become rich. She used famous magicians’ names to promote the amulets, but we later learned that it was without their permission,” said Atchairya.

“The amulet does not give the results promised. Many people have fallen victim to this scam. There are at least 30 more victims in Phuket. In total, we have lost about 100 million baht,” he added.

Col Vitoon informed other police stations to register the group’s complaints and said he will take action as per the Computer Crimes Act.

The victim, Picha Nampadung, 35, was first reported missing by her niece, Rujirada Ornkorat, on July 1.

Her body was eventually found on July 9, while the suspect, 36-year-old Papke Nico, slit his throat when approached by police officers.

“Nico had recovered enough for us to question him. At first, he denied any involvement with the crime, but after we questioned him for awhile, he confessed. He was charged with murder with intent and hiding the body,” said Col Vitoon Kongsutjai of the Phuket Provincial Police.

Nico was taken to the crime scenes, both at the house in Rawai and the forest in Kathu.

“He confessed that he killed Ms Picha in the house and then dumped her body in the forest. He added that he did it because he was angry at her for texting with another man on LINE,” he added.

He was escorted back from Los Angeles to Bangkok via Japan by officials from Department of Special Investigation and Office of Attorney General.

He was notified of three charges; money laundering, sexual harrassment against children and fraud upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

He still wore yellow robes and reports have said he would be defrocked to face charges.

Yesterday, it was reported that Thailand has tried to keep quiet the extradition of the notorious former monk out of concern that his followers in the United States could cause chaos to block the extradition process, officials have said.

Amnat Chotchai, director-general of the Office of the Attorney-General’s International Department, said at a press briefing on Wednesday that both the US and Thailand considered the issue to be sensitive, so all parties concerned had to act prudently.

Although a US court has approved the extradition, Amnat emphasised that care would have to be employed to ensure that the process to return Wiraphon to Thailand was problem-free.

At the time of the briefing, Thai officials had been sent to pick up Wiraphon and he had already boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok via Japan, Amnat said.

The former monk, who is wanted in Thailand on charges of sexual sexually harassing children, fraud, violation of the Computer Act and money laundering involving about Bt40 million, was scheduled to arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport at about 10pm on Wednesday, he said.

Wiraphon, 38, is the former head of Wat Pakhantitham forest monastery in Si Sa Ket province and, despite manifold controversies, he has been praised by his followers as a devout monk who helped to popularise the monastery.

Before fleeing Thailand, the former monk was known for an extravagant lifestyle, including his use of brand-name products and travel by private jets, even though he was still in the monkhood. A video clip released in 2013 showed him travelling by personal jet, carrying a Louis Vuitton bag and wearing brand-name sunglasses.

Another clip that showed a man who looked like Wiraphon having sex with a woman went viral on the Internet, although he maintained that the man depicted on the video was his brother.

However, a woman claimed in a Si Sa Ket court that Wiraphon had fathered her child and said she was prepared to submit the child to a DNA test.

As the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) sought to indict him, approximately Bt2 billion in his bank accounts and land and houses were seized pending trial.

US authorities arrested the former monk on July 22 last year at the request of Thai authorities based on the aforementioned charges. Wiraphol was reportedly defrocked after his arrest and denied bail in the US.

Amnat said a California court had subsequently approved Wiraphol’s extradition based on the request of the Thai Auditor-General on May 18, giving him two months until July 18 to appeal the ruling.

US officials then contacted their Thai counterparts telling them to send a team to pick up Wiraphol before the deadline expired, adding that otherwise Wiraphol would be freed and his extradition could not be requested again.

Apparently because of the sensitivity of the process, information about the extradition was only released to the public last week, leading many to assume that Wiraphol had until September to appeal. The issue was further confused when it was disclosed that the Auditor-General had sent a team of officers to the US amid questions why authorities had not waited until the September deadline.

Speaking at the same press briefing, Auditor-General spokesperson Somnuek Siengkong said his office did not have any information about Wiraphol’s health. “The US has told the Thai side to strictly treat Wiraphol according to human rights principles and dignity,” he said, adding that the former monk had rights according to the law including access to lawyers and relatives and medical treatment by doctors.

Amnat provided further details of the extradition process, saying Thai officials had collected the relevant evidence and documents and forwarded them to their US counterparts on November 30, 2015.

While declining to speculate broadly on Wiraphol’s decision not to appeal the extradition, Amnat said legal expenses were more expensive in the US than in Thailand.

He also defended against criticism that Thai authorities had been very slow in bringing the former monk back to the country, saying the process was very detailed and time consuming.

According to the extradition protocol, Wiraphol and Thai officials were expected to board flights first and exit last. As he was expected to arrive in Bangkok on Wednesday night, the DSI planned to arrest him and inform him of the charges against him.

Officials at the press conference added that the Attorney-General had ordered officers to treat Wiraphol according to the law, protecting his rights in line with US standards.