German Engineer Killed By Bomb In Chon Buri

[henryalleman]

I think its time that they realy start to clean up the Pattaya scene. And when I write clean up, I mean a real clean up. There are simply too many shady people and bussineses in that area.

A long joined efford of BIB, immigration, tax and labour department can do the trick.

And most of all bring the sex scene under control, so its start to be regulated.

That's how they did it in my home town to clean up illegal businesses and sex scene (mostly Russian owned). Prostitution is regulated and located in a special area controled by the town.

In the short term it will hit the local bussiness, but in the long run it will benefit everyone.

Its a fact that too many gangsters and huudlums find a perfect hide out in Pattaya. At least this is so for 2 of the most notoriuos gangsters of my home country.

Its no wonder why common Thai people and tourists call Pattaya "Farangland", and avoid it.

And there is no doubt in my mind that this is an typical Russian or East European gang action. BTW the local police is just no match for them. Those people are the most ruthles gangs on this planet. And its was a clear warning sign for others not to oppose them.

I've seen it all back home in Antwerp.

Also my condolances to the family, its must be hard to endure knowing that your loved one died in such an horrible way.

[bangkokrick]

I hope they find out fast his last way after him gone out of his home. The most 5er BMWs have GPS-Systems from factorysite and this systems write complete logfiles for the last 100 waypoints, stops, etc. So they can checkout easy where him drive and stop before him died. Maybe his car had it too.

Samething work with mobilephones too. They can checkout his last route together with the time. I don't believe the police is so stupid and don't check it.

Maybe they can find out where the gays catched him before they killed him.

How do you know that they are gay?

Cheers, Rick

[snowgard]

Maybe they can find out where the gays catched him before they killed him.

How do you know that they are gay?

Cheers, Rick

Sorry, I write wrong and changed it allready!!!

Here are some contracts of the ITD-Company. They have a lot of expensive projects. Here are 2 projects in the near of Pattaya:

On June 24, 2009 the ITD Company signed a contract with CPN Pattaya Beach Hotel Co., Ltd. to proceed

with The Central Festival Pattaya Beach Hotel - Contract Value: 231,800,000.00 Baht

On 8th January, 2009 ITD Company signed a contract with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction

Co., Ltd. to proceed with the civil and architectural works for GHECO-ONE 660 megawatt

Power Plant, Rayong Province - Contract Value: Bt 887.75 million

More: http://www.itd.co.th/en/investor.php

[sangfroid]

Murder Most Foul

Michael Wansley

Excerpted from From "Against the Dead Hand"

BRINK LINDSEY, AUTHOR,"AGAINST THE DEAD HAND:I also saw the dead hand in Nakhon Sawan Province, in Thailand, about 120 miles north of Bangkok, where Michael Wansley, a 58-year-old Australian accountant with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, was killed for his excessive scrutiny into the seamy world of crony capitalism. When the Asian financial crisis hit and Thailand's economy imploded under a mountain of bad debts, Wansley and his firm took a leading role in cleanup efforts.

In particular, in early 1999, a Thai bankruptcy court appointed him to supervise the debt restructuring of Kaset Thai Sugar Company and two affiliated mills. The three companies, all of which were controlled by the Siriviriyakul family, owed creditors a combined $450 million. The court-ordered restructuring was seen as a test of Thailand's bankruptcy process.

At Kaset Thai, Wansley apparently uncovered evidence of massive fraud. According to police reports, factory managers had been looting the company, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars and shifting the funds to shell companies or private bank accounts. On March 10, 1999, Wansley and four colleagues headed up to the sugar mill, near the small town of Takhli. As their black Toyota minivan neared the factory gate, a motorcycle pulled up alongside them, and a gunman seated on the back shot Wansley eight times at close range. He died instantly.

Police eventually apprehended five suspects: the driver of the motorcycle, the man who supplied the motorcycle, two mid-level factory managers, and Pradit Siriviriyakul, one of the mill's owners and the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy.

The driver was quickly convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but the actual gunman has never been apprehended, and the prosecution of the other accused plotters has turned into a total fiasco. A year into the murder trial, only two of 50 planned witnesses had yet to testify. Meanwhile, Pradit, the alleged ringleader, is free on bail, amid allegations that the judge who granted him bail received a half-million-dollar bribe from him. The judge was actually removed from office, following a Justice Ministry investigation, but the bail was not revoked, and Pradit remains at large. The trial is still proceeding at a glacial pace, and is expected to drag on through much or all of 2002.

Meanwhile, the restructuring of Kaset Thai and its sister mills sputtered as well. After Wansley's death, his firm presented creditors with debt restructuring plans for the three companies. The proposals called for a thorough housecleaning, a near total write-off of the debt and of the firm's capital, and replacement of the firm's management. But small creditors, mostly sugar growers, were afraid that if this plan were approved, they would never get any of their money back, and so they were opposed.

Although major creditors, including one French bank and several large Thai banks, held 83 percent of Kaset Thai's outstanding debt, Thai bankruptcy law at the time -- it has subsequently been changed -- held that at least 50 percent of creditors, by number, had to approve the restructuring plan. Small creditors had the strength of numbers, and so they vetoed the plan by a vote of 2,910 to 63. Faced with this impasse, the bankruptcy court could have ordered the firms liquidated, but instead it simply terminated court supervision of the matter altogether, leaving the Siriviriyakul family still in charge and creditors to try all over again to reach some kind of accommodation.

Finally, in June 2000, the bank settled on a much more modest deal. They agreed simply to stretch out repayment periods for 10 years. No debt write-offs, no write-down of capital. And although the banks gained the right to appoint representatives to the management team, the Siriviriyakul family retained ultimate control.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in November of 2000, I set out with a friend to retrace Michael Wansley's fateful last trip. Finding the sugar mill wasn't easy. It is hidden at the end of a maze of progressively deteriorating roads that snake and tangle their way off the main highway and through rice paddies, scrub brush and sugarcane fields. There was only one beaten-up, discolored sign, in Thai only of course, that offered any guidance along the way. After stopping more than a few times to ask for directions, we cut off on to one more bumpy dirt road that cut through chest-high brush on either side. And just as we were convinced that we had made yet another wrong turn, the mill loomed into view.

Somewhere along that road, I thought, Michael Wansley had been murdered. On the day I visited, there was no evidence of the violence and horror of that time. Everything was drowsy and peaceful. A few chickens and roosters strutted back and forth across the road, and a couple of guards lounged behind the factory's shuttered gate. The factory itself was closed. It is open only a couple of months a year, right after the sugarcane harvest. The only break in the silence was, eerily enough, the sound of a motorcyclist, who buzzed up and down the road repeatedly.

Along that far-away, out-of-the-way dirt road, the lie was put to all the blather about the triumph of footloose capital and the tyranny of Western finance. The Wansley case shows vividly that, at Kaset Thai Sugar Company at least, the dead hand of crony capitalism still clings tenaciously to power. The company saga offers an especially egregious example of the breakdowns in investor protection that are all too common in much of the developing world: the looting of minority shareholders, the lack of transparency, the unworkable bankruptcy procedures.

[Chang_paarp]

Gee the real estate members have been quiet.

I wonder which projects have been stopped or delayed?

I hope the gentleman rests in peace.

[GungaDin]

Murder Most Foul

Michael Wansley

Excerpted from From "Against the Dead Hand"

BRINK LINDSEY, AUTHOR,"AGAINST THE DEAD HAND:I also saw the dead hand in Nakhon Sawan Province, in Thailand, about 120 miles north of Bangkok, where Michael Wansley, a 58-year-old Australian accountant with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, was killed for his excessive scrutiny into the seamy world of crony capitalism.

<snip>

Thanks for posting that.

I often wondered what the outcome was over the years.

A judge was bribed.

The shooter walked away........ free to kill again.

Thai injustice yet again.

[snowgard]

I wonder which projects have been stopped or delayed?

Maybe this? On June 24, 2009 the ITD Company signed a contract with CPN Pattaya Beach Hotel Co., Ltd. to proceed with The Central Festival Pattaya Beach Hotel - Contract Value: 231,800,000.00 Baht

Listen same they change the building company, or not?

[BFCist]

the land of the smile

worst thing is that it seems to be normal here

[Scott123]

oh my god...is this a lawless land or what?

someone needs to follow up on the police investigation and procecution of the criminals. Or perhaps, the police have been taken care of?

[saffronsamet]

German Engineer Killed By Bomb In Chon Buri

CHONBURI: -- The torn-apart body of a German engineer was found in rubber plantation in Banglamung district here Friday morning, police said.

Police said the remains of Uwe Keienburt, 45, who was an engineer of a real estate company, was found by a rubber tapper in the morning.

Police said the bomb appeared to be C4 explosives tied to the body of the man, whose BMW car was found left about 500 away.

Police said the killer used a remote control to detonate the bomb that torn his body into pieces.

His wife, Araya, 40, told police that the German engineer left their house on Soi Sukhumvit 24 at 9 am on Thursday and disappeared.

She said her husband had conflicts with a group of foreign real estate developers and he sued to receive a death threat.

-- The Nation 21/08/09

Firstly, condolences to the remaining family...

Based on thE article if the facts are indeed accurate...it does appear to be quite a sophisticated and somewhat unusual method used to kill someone... Vorsprung durch Technik ?

It appears it was certainly meant to send out a message to someone but to who, why and exactly what? is certainly open to speculation for now and the immediate future.

No doubt the budding "amateur detectives" will have their theories but it will be interesting to see who if anyone gets arrested and charged and how quickly, unless of course the Thai mafia decides it was out of order because for sure they will certainly know more quickly than the authorities ever will.

Ohh, the land of smiles, sunshine...sex, drugs and the mafia...but its certainly no worse than many so called civilised Western countries!

Keep a stiff upper lip lads and "carry on regardless" cos its pissing down with COLD rain here everyday!

P.S. I don't suppose anyone knows what year the BMW was?

2001

[vahack]

This should really be good for tourism to Pattaya. Wonder how this is going to be discussed by the powers in charge.

Nobody mentioned 'Pattaya' until you did! Thanks!

.. or tourism.

[foxxx]

why is everyone assuming the remote was wireless? why not just a line with a switch... that's a remote.

think low tech before you over analyse everything.

probably wasn't C4, the thai english translation to keep things simple what probably explained in the way that 'a explosive, like c4'

there's no point in stealing the car, why take his car and be seen driving around in a car that belongs to a person who was just murdered. better chance of getting away with it if you just leave the car behind, if your not in the car chop shop business it'll be hard to sell anyway.

[rolypie]

It will be swept under the carpet just like everything else!

[VBF]

This should really be good for tourism to Pattaya.

Won't be heard of outside the country.

why would you say that? it's on the front page of one of two english newspaper websites here.

Plus there are 182 people reading this post and I for one am in UK - bet there are dozens if not hundreds of TV readers outside Thailand who know. Not being contentious, just pointing out how fast news travels especially on the 'net.

Edited August 22, 2009 by VBF

[Samuian]

RIP - Condolences to his family an wife...

... yes, savages at work...!

[noithip]

Surely there are countless theories of this murder, everybody will have their own. It gets harder since the media reports this far are conflicting.

In the video of the nationchannel a local was interviewed, he said he is living not far from the crime scene, and could hear an explosion at aroun 3pm on thursday. Apperantly the body was found the next morning around 11 30. That would mean it took 20 hours before the body was found.

There are conflicting reports to when he left with the Nation saying thursday 9am and Mcot reporting 9am on wednesday with his wife already fileing a report with the police about her husband being missing. That would mean the time from disappearing to the discovery of the body are more than 48 hours.

Mcot reported that his head was missing, this seems strange, could have different reasons though, considering the time that passed between the explosion and the discovery of the body.

One of the theories that was not brought up here is certainly that he could have been murdered before being blown up, this would make sense because it makes the forensic work harder till even impossible.

In the Mcot report it is written:

"In an attempt to speed up the case, Pol Maj-Gen Bandid Kunachak, regional police chief, said investigators were seeking clues from foreigners and foreign mafia gangs in the tourist seaside tourist town of Pattaya as the circumstances surrounding Mr Keienburt’s death bore the hallmark of a mafia-related attack."

This could very well be the intentions of the real culprit(s) pointing in a direction that would make sense to most people. Pattaya beeing such a famous "mafia-place" obviously makes the idea of a mafia killing an easy assumption.

To all the Pattaya mafia talk, it should be said that Laem Chabang 25 km north of Pattaya is the biggest port of Thailand (20th busiest port in the world as of 2005), and even without the "Pattaya scene", Chonburi is the main place for "lowlifes" in Thailand, because beeing the major hub for industries, trade, aso.

Chonburi has the biggest number of hitmen in Thailand (according to an interview with a hitmen by the Bangok Post, but also generally known).

Alltogether we will only know more as soon as the first reports start leaking from the police, and people close to the victim come out with further details.

Edited August 22, 2009 by noithip

[bob6023]

Having lived in Pattaya for a few years I have to say it seems as if there are quite a few falangs in the real estate business. I'm wondering how can they do this out in the open, I mean I always thought that foriegners can not work in thailand. Surly selling real estate is some thing even a thai can do. Its not rocket science. Why are some people allowed to run businesses. Does anyone know ?

[mrtoad]

Having lived in Pattaya for a few years I have to say it seems as if there are quite a few falangs in the real estate business. I'm wondering how can they do this out in the open, I mean I always thought that foriegners can not work in thailand. Surly selling real estate is some thing even a thai can do. Its not rocket science. Why are some people allowed to run businesses. Does anyone know ?

Of course foreigners can work in Thailand, and also own a business.

[sunholidaysun1]

Having lived in Pattaya for a few years I have to say it seems as if there are quite a few falangs in the real estate business. I'm wondering how can they do this out in the open, I mean I always thought that foriegners can not work in thailand. Surly selling real estate is some thing even a thai can do. Its not rocket science. Why are some people allowed to run businesses. Does anyone know ?

Anyone can set up a business here in Thailand, you just need the funds to be able to do it. Farangs legally working have to have a work permit but I am sure there are a few without . Farangs also have to employ I think 3 or 4 Thais to one foreigner working .

[Rimmer]

Pattaya, August 22, [PDN]: Officials investigating the case involving the death of a German engineer, Mr. Uwe Keienburg, have revealed he was killed by an explosion from an M33 grenade and not C4, as originally suspected. His Thai wife has meanwhile provided more information and police say the case could still be suicide or murder.

At 4:00 pm on the 21st August 2009 Police Major General Niwat Wattanatammawat and his team inspected the area where the body was found, together with the BMW car belonging to the deceased which had been taken to the Huay Yai police station for examination.

The police said the car had obviously been cleaned before being driven to the area where it was found. Police have so far found no suspicious evidence in the vehicle and all indications are that, apart from the driver, there were no other passengers.

In the glove compartment, police found a receipt from the Burapa Withi toll booth of the express way showing that the car had passed it at 10.43 am. They also found a photo of Mr. Keienburt in a group of people including Police General San Sarutanon, a former Commissioner General, taken at a party. Components of an Apple notebook were also found but no signs of foul play.

Police Major General Niwat said that villagers had heard the sound of an explosion at around 2.00 pm but no one paid attention until his body was found at 11.30 am on the following day just 300 - 400 meters away from the parked car.

The police said it was difficult to say if he was murdered or not , but it is clear he must have either been holding the grenade, or it was attached to the upper part of his body.

At 6.30 pm Mr Keienburt’s wife, Mrs Araya, traveled from Bangkok to assist Police Colonel Aukaradetch Pimonsri and Police Lieutenant Colonel Prakob Sangpring at the Huay Yai police station with their investigation. She told them that she didn’t know much about her husband’s private matters. She said her husband was an engineer and had business interests in India and was also the Vice President of the Vinci Construction Company and two other companies. They had been married for 9 years and had one child.

Police Major General Niwat said preliminary investigations indicate the possibility of suicide as the deceased had problems with his business. However, murder has not been ruled out as he had also incurred significant debts with other German nationals.

Source:

http://pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000010119

[DisainaM]

so another suicide ?

watching the video, you could see, that his suitecase with his documents where found close to his body,

so he left the car with his documents and the grenade ...

Edited August 22, 2009 by DisainaM

[Daffy D]

The Missis tells me that according to the local news channel the police have not ruled out suicide. Information from the mans wife indicates that he had business problems and was depressed.

So maybe it was suicide after all

[GungaDin]

If this guy was murdered, it's an act of gross stupidity of the PDN to publish photos of his widow.

She is now at high risk.

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000010119

[Screws]

The Missis tells me that according to the local news channel the police have not ruled out suicide. Information from the mans wife indicates that he had business problems and was depressed.

So maybe it was suicide after all

I would suspect suicide - as with the Bangkok bridge case. Crucial would be any unusual activity witnessed after the sound of the bomb - unusual cars, driving fast etc, in the vicinity. If not, prolly suicide.

[bunuel]

A very clear message indeed. Military grade explosives are hard to come by. And I am sure that the message has been heard far outside of Thailand, since Thal real estate is Big Business ( or, at least, has been until now) Hope the German community and others in the Pattaya Ex-Pats club get together and provide some support to the victim's family, if nothing else. Very sad story - and very scary!

Blowing him up with military grade explosives isn't exactly your average bump off the competition with a .38 revolver.

Sounds like someone is sending a very clear message going to such extremes.

Very well put - I am not sure what this was all about but this is a very strong message and shows connections above and beyond a group of foreign real estate developers

[LaoPo]

It could have been suicide indeed although several details are odd like the car which had been "obviously" cleaned according to the police.

POLICE CLAIM GERMAN KILLED BY M33 HAND GRENADE - NOT C 4

1. "The police said the car had obviously been cleaned before being driven to the area where it was found. "

Why would anyone, planning to commit suicide clean his car (or have it cleaned)?

2. "In the glove compartment, police found a receipt from the Burapa Withi toll booth of the express way showing that the car had passed it at 10.43 am."

It doesn't mention a day/date; earlier it was said that he was missing since Wednesday 19th; any proof of that ? He was found on Friday 21st, the day AFTER people in the neighborhood heard an explosion. IF the car passed the toll booth on Thursday 10.43am where was Mr. Keienburg between Wednesday 09.00 am (left home in BKK) and Thursday morning..?

3. "Police Major General Niwat said that villagers had heard the sound of an explosion at around 2.00 pm (Thursday 20 Aug; LP) but no one paid attention until his body was found at 11.30 am on the following day (Friday 21st Aug); LP) just 300 - 400 meters away from the parked car."

4. Missing head (sorry!): "The police said it was difficult to say if he was murdered or not , but it is clear he must have either been holding the grenade, or it was attached to the upper part of his body."

The missing head can be explained by the (possible) grenade since the body wasn't affected by the explosion from the upper breast, downwards. (video images)

5. "Mr Keienburt’s wife, Mrs Araya, <snip>.... She told them that she didn’t know much about her husband’s private matters. She said her husband was an engineer and had business interests in India and was also the Vice President of the Vinci Construction Company and two other companies. They had been married for 9 years and had one child."

6. "Police Major General Niwat said preliminary investigations indicate the possibility of suicide as the deceased had problems with his business. However, murder has not been ruled out as he had also incurred significant debts with other German nationals."

Those "other German nationals" will probably step forward and confirm this accordingly if it was suicide....or not...

Quotes from: http://pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000010119

LaoPo

[khundon]

So so sad, murder or suicide? either way RIP and condolences to his family.

[moskito]

Surely there are countless theories of this murder, everybody will have their own. It gets harder since the media reports this far are conflicting.

the body was found the next morning around 11 30. That would mean it took 20 hours before the body was found.

One of the theories that was not brought up here is certainly that he could have been murdered before being blown up, this would make sense because it makes the forensic work harder till even impossible.

1. and nobody was wondering about a BMW parked there for such a long time?

2. are explosions normally in this area or is the interwiewed guy just too lazy or ignorant?

3. if he was murdered before, who drove the BMW to the crimescene?

4. and who drove the BMW to there anyway? had this murdered guy an appointment there and was he alone?

lotz of questions for our private detectives .....finally the outcome is like its always is in sunny Thailand. After 3 days it will be a thread in THAIVISA like all others, a week more and its not newsworthy anymore, after a month some ppl who remember the case will ask if there was any outcome yet....after 3month nobody is intrested anymore, NOBODY except the family and friends.....

somebody gave us all who are living here a very good hint. We should shut up, OR............isnt it nice to live with that feeling always? and YES, I LOVE THAILAND but i hate what it have become during the past 20years....thanks to the big spenders, speculators and gamblers!

Btw, THANKS for the story with the sugarmillfactory...the outcome here will be the same i guess

[LennyW]

I would not be surprised if the eventual outcome was suicide, from the first reports up to now there appears to be NO EVIDENCE of the involvement of another party, only speculation.

Some initial wild speculation and ludicrious comments from the police (jeez they have some imagination!!), which are now seen to be false, (C-4, remote detonator) now they seem to be making a thing about the car being cleaned, the guy maybe liked a clean car, most BMW drivers i know do!

From the comments his wife has now made it looks more like the poor chap was in financial difficulty and had perhaps reached the end of his tether.

Whatever the outcome, a sad end.

RIP Uwe.

[noithip]

1. and nobody was wondering about a BMW parked there for such a long time?

2. are explosions normally in this area or is the interwiewed guy just too lazy or ignorant?

3. if he was murdered before, who drove the BMW to the crimescene?

4. and who drove the BMW to there anyway? had this murdered guy an appointment there and was he alone?

and YES, I LOVE THAILAND but i hate what it have become during the past 20years....thanks to the big spenders, speculators and gamblers!

1. nobody went there it seems, since it was inside a forest/plantation

2. seems like it : "Police Major General Niwat said that villagers had heard the sound of an explosion at around 2.00 pm but no one paid attention until his body was found at 11.30 am on the following day just 300 - 400 meters away from the parked car."

3: "The police said the car had obviously been cleaned before being driven to the area where it was found. Police have so far found no suspicious evidence in the vehicle and all indications are that, apart from the driver, there were no other passengers."

4: Who knows! All we think to know is what the police is telling us.

So you love the Thailand of 20 years ago but you hate the Thailand of today. Any country in the world without "big spenders, speculators and gamblers"? Yeah, I know the good old days, everything was much better before!

Edited August 22, 2009 by noithip