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The Premchai case was a criminal trial of Premchai Karnasuta, the director of the Italian-Thai Development corporation(ITD) who illegally enters Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary and hunted various protected animal. Premchai and his team were caught and trailed with 9 allegation, Premchai is pledged guity with 3,012,000 Thai baht (92200 USD) as a fine. The case sparks many public outcries and protest regarding the animal protection law in Thailand and the police treatment of wealthy criminal, some of the form of protesting are graffiti art and reference in music and article.

Premchai Karnasuta
Premchai Karnasuta (เปรมชัย กรรณสูต) was born on March 9, 1954. In primary and secondary school, Premchai graduated from Chitralada school. In later year, Premchai went to study in the United States where he graduated with a degree in mining engineering from the state of Colorado and a master degree in MBA from the University of Southern California. Premchai came to his position as the director in Italian-Thai development public company (ITD) by his father, Chaiyut Karnasuta (ชัยยุทธ กรรณสูต) the founder of ITD, who gave him the position that were formerly planned for his brother, Ekkachai Karnasuta (Thai: เอกชัย กรรณสูต) that passed away in a car accident. Today, Currently, Premchai is the largest stockholder of his company having roughly 785,494,526 unit or about 14.88% of the total company stock. Interview of Premchai colleague suggested that Premchai enjoys traveling and hiking and further investigation shows this is not the first time Premchai participates in animal hunting activity.

The case
On February 6, 2018, Premchai and his team of 3 (yong doodkruel, nathe riemsaen, thani thummas), enters the prohibited area in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary to set up a camp for a hunt where the rangers team discovered them later. The rangers capture Premchai until the police later arrive and Premchai is brought to trial.

Many evidence that was brought against him during the case were the animal hides, a body of Kalij pheasant and traces of Muntjac meat. When the police discovered the evidence they increased the search area and uncovered more evidence including a shotgun, 30-06 SPRG Winchester rifle with equipped scope, a large number of bullets and highly controversial black panthers hides that Premchai attempted to conceal.

On March 2, 2018, Premchai is questioned for the first time by Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul, the deputy commissioner general of Thailand who arrived at Thong Pha Phum precinct to interview. During this questioning, the controversial photo of the deputy commissioner greeting premchai is taken.

Premchai has been prosecuted under the act of wildlife preservation, 1992 section 19, 47 and the customs act, 1926. Premchai denied all the prosecution

On February 7, 2018, a search warrant has been issued under the criminal court for Premchai house located at 3 Phetchaburi 47 Alley, Lane 6 Khwaeng Bang Kapi, Khet Huai Khwang Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 1031. Police discovered many illegal items including two pairs of African elephant tusks and a hunting rifle at Premchai house.

On February 8, 2018, a group of Forensic scientist from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation collects an evident around premchai camp to determine the species of the hunted animal through DNA testing.

On March 13, 2018, nine allegation was brought up, the allegation include


 * 1) Hunting an animal in a prohibited area with other people
 * 2) Hunting preserve wildlife animal
 * 3) Possession of preservation wildlife parts
 * 4) Attempt to hunt a preservation wild life in prohibited area
 * 5) Knowingly conceal animal parts and evidence
 * 6) Possession of firearms and hunting tools in a preservation area
 * 7) Entering a prohibited preservation area without a permit
 * 8) Collecting goods from preservation area
 * 9) Owning and carrying firearms without a permit

Premchai and his team denied all allegation

Verdict
Premchai is pledged guilty and was issued to pay 3,012,000 Thai baht (92200 USD) as a fine.

The public outcry
After the trial detail became public, the case quickly gains popularity and become one of the most discussed topic regarding the legal system of Thailand and the police department treatment of wealthy criminal.

Graffiti by Headaches Stencils

The graffiti depicts the panther that were hunted by Premchai accompanied by a mute sign, an iconography that describes the situation of the case as “unfair” and “the voice of the panther is being suppressed." The graffiti quickly gain people’s attention and became an unofficial symbol of the protest. After the graffiti became mainstream, many of the merchandise and product was made off the stencils graffiti art such as shirts and poster which helps spread the message even further. At its peak of popularity, the art has been share through many media which caught the attention of the officials who send a non-uniform officers to erase the stencil and guard the wall.

Reference in music
On October 23, 2018, A music video title "ประเทศกูมี" (My Country) by Thailand base Hip Hop group Rap Against Dictatorship has been uploaded to youtube. In the music video, the artist raps about the corruption of Thailand and the incompetence of Thailand justice system, the case is mention on the first verse "ประเทศที่เสือดำหน้าคะมำเพราะ Rifle" which roughly translate to "In the country the panther is killed by a rifle".