Murder investigation opened as DSI interviews Karen activist’s relatives

By The Nation

 

File Photo: (Right) Pol Lt Colonel Chen Kanchanapat and (Left) Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn

 

A team from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Wednesday visited Pong Leuk-Bang Kloy village within Kaeng Krachan national park in Phetchaburi province to interview the relatives of the late Karen activist Polajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen.

 

Billy, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances five years ago, was confirmed dead on Tuesday following the discovery of his bones in a 200-litre oil drum dumped near a bridge connecting Kaeng Krachan Dam.

 

The latest development means that this case is now being treated as a murder and a case of body concealment with Billy's mother and his wife being brought into the witness protection programme. Pol Lt Colonel Chen Kanchanapat, director of the DSI’s special operations directorate who is in charge of Billy’s case, led his team to interview Billy's relatives but refused to allow media coverage for fear it would impact the ongoing investigation.

 

Following Tuesday’s confirmation of Billy's death, Protected Area Regional Office 9 director Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn, who was serving as Kaeng Krachan park chief at the time of Billy's disappearance, submitted a letter to his superviors detailing the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) involvement in the case.

 

Chaiwat, 55, said that that Billy's wife Pinnapa Prueksaphan had filed a complaint with the court that Chaiwat and four of his subordinates stopped Billy’s motorcycle and apprehended the young Karen man on April 17, 2014 at a park checkpoint for alleged illegal collection of wild honeycomb and honey from the forest. The officials claimed to have released him but Billy was never seen again, convincing Pinnapa that Chaiwat had detained him illegally.

 

She requested a court order to have Chaiwat release Billy and the DNP to pay compensation. Chaiwat's letter said Pinnapa's lawsuit for illegal detention of Billy went through three courts – two lower courts and the Supreme Court – but all dismissed the case against Chaiwat.

 

Billy was known to have a dispute with Chaiwat as the young activist encouraged ethnic Karen people living in the park to file a complaint against the official over alleged abuses.

 

Park officials have consistently insisted that they had detained Billy for questioning only briefly and released him without charge. Billy's wife Pinnapa , however, lodged complaints with several agencies holding park officials responsible for her husband’s disappearance, resulting in investigations which did not make any significant progress in the case.

 

DSI confirmed on Tuesday that Billy had been killed although investigators have yet to determine how. The agency confirmed the mitochondrial DNA test result on a human skull bone piece (one of two bone pieces) found inside the 200-litre oil drum showed it was Billy’s as it matched the DNA sample given by Billy's biological mother. Twenty pieces of bone from the area also were being tested.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375820

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-09-04

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Where is this heading exactly?

 

Nail the hitman but not the ones who ordered the hit!

"Billy's mother and his wife being brought into the witness protection" !?!?

would you trust witness protection in Thailand ???

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The officials claimed to have released him but Billy was never seen again, convincing Pinnapa that Chaiwat had detained him illegally.

I bet Chaiwat never expected the body to be found... I'd like to hear his explanation of how after releasing him he was never seen again yet shows up in a barrel in the bottom of a lake, after being burnt..

Strange that?

17 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

Nail the hitman but not the ones who ordered the hit!

How on earth did you get this so backwards? Looks like one of the goons that did him in is singing like a canary under immunity which led investigators to the precise location of the body. So it looks like the authorities made a deal with the hitman in order to net the head man. Strange how in this country they always go after the head man like this. Just imagine if the murderer was some poor village folk in a dispute. This case would have been dropped years ago and nothing happen. But because the head guy is high profile they have been relentlessly pursuing this case for years stepping up the investigation over and over again.