8 ex-Border Patrol policemen get 3 years for extortion

The court found Pol Captain Nat Cholnithiwanit, 30, former commander of Company 426 of the Border Patrol Police Taskforce 41 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and seven other former BPP officers guilty of demanding bribe from Duangkamol Oonsiri. The crime took place when they were BPP officers.

The court was told that Nat and his subordinates arrested Duangkamol and Thaweekiart Wongwitsong at their apartment in Bangkok's Pathumwan district on January 19 and detained them until January 22 to demand a bribe of Bt500,000 from Duangkamol's mother.

The court initially sentenced the eight to five years in jail but commuted the penalty by one third after they cooperated with the court during the trial.

The eight still face trials in two other extortion cases.