Career
Strongly suspected to be deceased, he is still the subject of an investigation launched in 2004. Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is believed by many interested in the case to have played a part in Somchai"s disappearance and probable murder. The day after Somchai"s disappearance, concerns were publicly raised.
In response, Thaksin said, "Oh, don"t worry.
In 2014 the Bangkok Post reported, "In January 2006, the court acquitted four of the accused but convicted Political Major Ngern of the relatively minor charge of coercion. Then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra made a significant statement a day after the court verdict acknowledging that Somchai was dead and government officials were implicated".
In late 2013 the Thai Department of Special Investigation said the police file of the case had gone missing, but later claimed it had been foundation The actual status of the case and even which department is handling it is still unknown, although ten years has passed since Somchai"s disappearance.
The case of the (probable) death of Somchai Neelaphaijit has not been solved.