Thai police seek first arrest warrant for Red Bull heir

Thai police today asked a court to issue an arrest warrant for the heir to the Red Bull empire over a deadly 2012 hit-and-run, a belated move to end the impunity enjoyed by the super-rich scion.

The Thai public is closely watching whether the court will issue the warrant -- the first against Worayuth Yoovidhya, who has spent years ducking hearings on charges linked to the death of a policeman who was mowed down by his Ferrari on a Bangkok street.

The scion -- nicknamed "Boss" -- was 27 at the time of the crash and has freely dipped in and out of Thailand over the past five years but never been arrested.

Several of the charges against him have expired during that time.

But the most serious offence -- a possible 10-year sentence for reckless driving that resulted in death -- is valid until 2027.

For many in Thailand, the case has become a byword for the special treatment enjoyed by elites in a justice system notoriously bent by cash and influence.

"(The arrest warrant) is being deliberated on in the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court," Colonel Kachornpong Jiitparkpoom, the superintendent of Thonglor police station, told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)