"Kamnan Poh" moved to eastern jail

BANGKOK, February 4 (TNA) - Somchai Khunpluem, wellknown as "Kamnan Poh", has been transferred from Bangkok Remand Prison to the central prison in Thailand's eastern Chonburi, his hometown. Corrections Department Director-General Police Colonel Suchart Wongananchai told journalists that "Kamnan Poh" was transferred to Chonburi Central Prison on Monday morning, after prison doctors reported that he was healthy enough to be moved from the Bangkok Remand Prison to the central prison in his hometown. Police Colonel Suchart elaborated that "Kamnan Poh" was moved to the Chonburi Central Prison, amid tight security measures along the route, after his department issued an official approval of the transfer, based on the Bangkok Remand Prison medical record. According to the corrections department chief, Chonburi is also the area where the cases took place and is under the jurisdiction of the provincial court, which earlier sentenced "Kamnan Poh" to 30 years and four months in jail totally. Influential 75-year-old "Kamnan Poh", a former local politician, community leader and business person in Chonburi, has five children, one of them is incumbent Culture Minister Sontaya Kunplume. He had been on the run for nearly 10 years after he was handed the verdict on charges of masterminding the murder of his political rival, Prayoon Sitthichote, another kamnan in Chonburi, and involving in a corruption case regarding the purchase of a piece of public land in Chonburi's Khao Mai Kaew locality."Kamnan Poh" was arrested in Bangkok on January 30, 2013. (TNA)