THAILAND: MAN GETS DEATH FOR CADET'S MURDER

May 18, 2020:

The Nakhon Sawan provincial court on 12 May 2020 sentenced the owner of a private military cadet school to death while his wife and mother-in-law were sentenced to life imprisonment for the fatal disciplinary beating of a 15-year-old student.
The court passed the death sentence on Natthaphol Thavornphibun, the owner of Ban Phi Nat tutorial school in tambon Wat Sai of Muang district.
The court also sentenced Natthaphol's wife Phiraya Phalasaen and mother-in-law Nonglak Phalasaen to life imprisonment for colluding in physical abuse as they were present during the beating.
Natthaphol, 28, admitted hitting Thanakorn "Nong Chaidaen'' Sapsin, then 15, with a baseball bat at least 20 times on 12 June last year at his cadet school.
The beating resulted in severe injuries, including a torn pancreas, which led to the boy's death in hospital two days later.
The injuries on his body indicated he had been struck with a hard object on his back and legs.
Natthaphol said he beat Thanakorn as punishment for swearing when his mother-in-law refused to return the boy's mobile phone when he asked for it. During police interrogation, Natthaphol denied murdering the boy and said he had no intention to kill the boy but only to punish him -- as a teacher punished a student.