Thai officials deny any role in the deaths of Surachai’s aides

[webfact]

Thai officials deny any role in the deaths of Surachai’s aides

By THE NATION

 

File photo: Surachai “Saedan” Danwattananusorn

 

THAI AUTHORITIES yesterday denied they played any role in the disappearance of two activists who were found dead in the Mekong River, while the whereabouts of another dissident remain unknown. Senior officials have denied having any links with the deaths, saying they took place outside the Kingdom.
 

Former communist insurgent Surachai “Saedan” Danwattananusorn and his “aides” Chatchai “Phoochana” Bubphawan and Kraidej “Kasalong” Luelert were apparently living in self-imposed exile in Laos when they went missing in December. 

 

The aides’ bodies were found on December 26 and 27 in the Mekong River, which borders the two countries. 

Their hands and feet were bound, their faces beaten to a pulp and their organs removed and replaced with concrete before the bodies were flung into the river. 

 

Deputy police chief Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said the two likely died outside Thailand and the Mekong current carried their bodies into Thai territory. However, he refused to confirm whether the bodies found were those of Surachai’s close aides. 

 

The 77-year-old dissident Surachai, who joined the red-shirt movement, was sentenced for lese majeste in 2013 and then granted amnesty, but had sought refuge in Laos after the May 2014 military coup.

 

Second Army Region Commander Lt-General Tharakorn Thammawinthorn, who oversees the Northeast and the Thai-Lao border region, said military intelligence indicated that Surachai and his associates had taken refuge in Laos several years ago, but the military had not been following their movement outside Thailand. 

 

The three dissidents did not return to Thailand, he said. “It is the duty of police and the Foreign Ministry to ask Laos to cooperate on extradition as they were fleeing from many charges,” the commander said. 

 

Asked whether Surachai was still alive, Tharakorn said he had no idea. “He is not in our territory and I don’t know if he has problems with anybody. If he was under our jurisdiction, we would have taken care of him,” he said. 

 

Meanwhile, Surachai’s wife Pranee Danwattananusorn told Prachatai news website that she believes her husband is already dead. 

“Initially, I was told there were three bodies floating on the Mekong River, but a village head untied one and let it float away,” she said. “I pray for his soul to rest in peace. Those who have committed this crime will have to pay the price.” 

 

New York-based Human Rights Watch yesterday called on the Lao government to investigate the disappearance of the political activists, who were last seen in Vientiane. The Lao government remained tight-lipped on the matter.

 

Many dissidents in exile are considered to be hardcore red-shirts, who also have anti-monarchy sentiments. Five of these dissidents, including Ittipon “DJ Sunho” Sukpaen and Wuttipong “Ko-Tee” Kotthammakhun, have reportedly gone missing. Their associates believe they were murdered in Laos, but there has been no official confirmation and the Lao authorities have refused to acknowledge they ever lived in the country.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30362829

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-24

[Samui Bodoh]

"...Thai officials deny any role in the deaths of Surachai’s aides..."

 

"...Their hands and feet were bound, their faces beaten to a pulp and their organs removed and replaced with concrete before the bodies were flung into the river..." 

 

Aaaah!

 

Suicide, then...

 

Case closed!

 

[pattayadgw]

Of course they deny it!!  get a grip... you think they are going to put their hands up and say "yeah it was me"??

[colinneil]

Well what do people expect, the officials responsible to stand up and say, we killed them?

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Well what do people expect, the officials responsible to stand up and say, we killed them?

They don't even need to say that, according the the local police chief who recently said that basically Thais don't commit crimes.

Using that logic I suppose it's instant blame deflection on the neighbouring country then?

 

[YetAnother]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Senior officials have denied having any links with the deaths, saying they took place outside the Kingdom.

thai officials and weak, often irrational  excuses; they go together

[neeray]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

THAI AUTHORITIES yesterday denied they played any role in the disappearance of two activists who were found dead

Yes, right, okay, uh huh, sure, whatever.

[Nigeone]

Of course they deny it . But they did runner when ?? Exactly ! And running from who ??! Rule of the gun or gangster  

[Lungstib]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

If he was under our jurisdiction, we would have taken care of him,

Of that I have no doubt! Sounds like something Eliot Ness would have said. I suspect thats exactly what happened.

[edwinchester]

Deny any knowledge of the murders so how come they knew they took place outside of Thailand?

Bodies weighed down with concrete but then they floated across the Mekong from Laos into Thailand.....not really credible but sums up the contempt they have for the Thai public who they expect to believe this hogwash.

[Puchaiyank]

I admire idealistic people who stand up against official government power to express their desire for change.  The roads of history are paved with the blood of dissidents.  RIP

[ramrod711]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Their hands and feet were bound, their faces beaten to a pulp and their organs removed and replaced with concrete before the bodies were flung into the river. 

Probably not accidental, and suicide is out of the question I suppose.

[steelepulse]

It was the Burmese.....errr, the Laotians.

[bluesofa]

21 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Their hands and feet were bound, their faces beaten to a pulp and their organs removed and replaced with concrete before the bodies were flung into the river. 

Probably not accidental, and suicide is out of the question I suppose.

Could be a mistranslation: before the bodies flung themselves into the river.

[Lupatria]

They all died of natural causes: the notorious Mekong kidney stones (the worst kind)

[tifino]

all died frommassive conjoined coincidentectomy

[robblok]

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

Deny any knowledge of the murders so how come they knew they took place outside of Thailand?

Bodies weighed down with concrete but then they floated across the Mekong from Laos into Thailand.....not really credible but sums up the contempt they have for the Thai public who they expect to believe this hogwash.

I am not sure how credible this is.. kinda depends on the currents. I have no idea how the currents are but its currents that carve out a river and do hit the sides of rivers at times. So its not totally implausible. But even if they were killed in Laos it does not mean the Thai junta did not do it or even if they were killed in Thailand it does not mean the junta did it either. There certainly is a chance but there are other options too. 

 

 

[Misterwhisper]

It surely is strange to immediately deny having committed a heinous crime without actually been accused of it, because it implies that you have in fact been involved in such an act one or several times in the past and now feel compelled to deflect the blame away from your person. It is the typical reaction of someone who has something to hide.

 

If you, as a child, have never smashed in a window while playing with your football, why would you suddenly run around yelling "It wasn't me!" as soon as a broken glass pane has been discovered somewhere in the village?    

[lvr181]

3 hours ago, pattayadgw said:

Of course they deny it!!  get a grip... you think they are going to put their hands up and say "yeah it was me"??

It is the "Sgt Schultz" defence (for those not knowing the TV program) "I know nothing"!!

 

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, Misterwhisper said:

 

 

If you, as a child, have never smashed in a window while playing with your football, why would you suddenly run around yelling "It wasn't me!" as soon as a broken glass pane has been discovered somewhere in the village?    

 

A child who had been previously falsely accused of breaking a window, and then interrogated so intensely and aggressively that they came to believe that they had done it, might do such a thing.

 

They may well have become so sensitised that they would do it out of fear, because of a now rooted belief that it might have been them, in order to forestall a repeat of the trauma they suffered.

 

Indeed they may carry such an anxiety into adulthood with them.

 

Suspects confess to crimes they didn't commit – here's why

False confession - Wikipedia

 

 

 

[Misterwhisper]

1 hour ago, Enoon said:

 

A child who had been previously falsely accused of breaking a window, and then interrogated so intensely and aggressively that they came to believe that they had done it, might do such a thing.

 

They may well have become so sensitised that they would do it out of fear, because of a now rooted belief that it might have been them, in order to forestall a repeat of the trauma they suffered.

 

Indeed they may carry such an anxiety into adulthood with them.

 

Suspects confess to crimes they didn't commit – here's why

False confession - Wikipedia

 

 

 

Very good reply. And yes, incidents of "false confession" do happen quite frequently for a myriad of underlying circumstances. Maybe my example with the child wasn't the best choice.

 

But then again, we are not really dealing with a "false confession" here, do we? The Thai authorities have not confessed to anything. Instead, they issued a preemptive denial.

[ocddave]

Duh! What did you think they would do, admit to it?!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Another bunch of disappearance/murders in Thailand to go on the permanently unsolved murder pile!

[Ulic]

Communist scumbags, who cares, I certainly will not lose any sleep.