Thai Red Bull heir could face drugs charges in 8-year-old hit-and-run case

Vorayuth Yoovidhya no longer faces a death by reckless driving charge in connection with the 2012 crash after prosecutors dropped it late last month

He claimed at the time that the traces of chemicals found in his system indicating cocaine use were a result of recent dental work

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Vorayuth Yoovidhya, whose grandfather co-founded energy drink company Red Bull, pictured in 2017. Photo: AP

Published: 6:15pm, 4 Aug 2020Updated: 6:15pm, 4 Aug 2020

Facing renewed public outrage, prosecutors in Thailand said on Tuesday that police should file drug charges against a scion of the Red Bull energy drink fortune in connection with the 2012 hit-and-run death of a police officer.

An Office of the Attorney General committee also suggested that the charge of causing death by reckless driving against Vorayuth Yoovidhya might be restored after a re-examination of the evidence. Prosecutors dropped that charge late last month, igniting a fresh uproar over a case that critics say highlights the impunity wealthy Thais enjoy.

The committee is one of several that were set up to investigate how and why charges had been dropped against Vorayuth, whose family is listed by Forbes magazine as the second richest in Thailand, with an estimated wealth of US$20.2 billion.

“The committee can assure you that the case hasn’t ended,” a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, Prayuth Bejraguna, said at a news conference.

Police officers look at the Ferrari involved in the 2012 hit-and-run. Photo: AFP

Vorayuth had been accused of roaring down a Bangkok street in his Ferrari at speeds of up to 177 kilometres per hour when he struck a police officer patrolling on a motorcycle. The officer and his mangled motorcycle were dragged for several dozen metres before his body fell to the road.

Police followed a trail of fluid to the Yoovidhya family’s nearby property. The car, which they found there, had a shattered windscreen and its bumper was hanging off. At first, a chauffeur was blamed for the accident, but Vorayuth later admitted to being the driver. He turned himself in and was released on bail the same day.