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Thai Army Becomes Chalerm's Fall Guy In Mekong Murders


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Posted

EDITORIAL

Thai Army becomes Chalerm's fall guy in Mekong murders

The Nation

Chinese sailors' deaths train a spotlight on Bangkok's murky dealings with unsavoury characters in the Golden Triangle

Thai-Chinese bilateral ties have hit some turbulence in recent weeks after authorities found the bodies of 13 Chinese sailors in the Mekong River, the victims of what initially appeared to be a boat hijacking that turned deadly.

Angry Chinese officials demanded a full investigation into the matter. According to Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, the investigation is nearly complete. But some question his determination to get to the bottom of it, or whether such a probe will be conducted in an unbiased manner.

After all, it is no secret that this government has an axe to grind with the Army, and that the two will be on a crash course for some time because of the ongoing political crisis.

Chalerm is on record as saying that not everybody in the Third Army is a crook, and that the linking of nine Thai soldiers to the murders of the 13 Chinese crewmembers should not tarnish the reputation of the Third Army or its Pha Muang Task Force.

Chalerm needs to come clean as to how the nine soldiers are linked. Did they board the ship and kill the 13 Chinese? If so, the incident, which occurred some 20 kilometres north of Thailand's territorial waters, would also be a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Burma and Laos.

According to the military's initial explanation, Pha Muang Task Force soldiers intercepted two boats as they entered Thai waters on the Mekong River and found nearly one million methamphetamine tablets. They blamed a piracy gang under the leadership of a, for the murder. They accused Shan warlord Nor Kham of hijacking the boats for ransom, and of killing the crew and using the boats to transport drugs after failing to receive the ransom payment.

But this tidy explanation didn't hold water. Not long after the incidents, officials began to talk, but only on condition of anonymity.

Sources inside the bureaucracy said Nor Kham is a drug smuggler and has carried out attacks on cargo ships on the Mekong River, but was also an informant for Thailand's Third Army, who tolerated his illicit activities in exchange for intelligence.

According to the sources, Nor Kham's people tipped off the Army about drugs coming into Thai waters on the two Chinese ships.

The Army fell for it and sent men to intercept the boats and found nearly one million meth tablets - and one dead body. Soon afterwards, 12 more bodies would surface, floating on the Mekong River. Apparently, the person who tipped off the Thai Army didn't say anything about the killings, the sources said.

Chalerm, they said, was quick to capitalise on the soldiers' gullibility, and the result is charges against nine soldiers, some of them officers. Thai soldiers who thought they were going to get some quick and easy brownie points for an instant drug bust find themselves suspects in 13 gruesome murders of Chinese citizens.

The use of proxies is nothing new in Golden Triangle politics. Thailand and Burma - as well as China - have used ethnic armies and armed groups to do their bidding in this rugged region, where everybody plays for keeps.

Burma has used the Wa army against the Thais, while Thai authorities have used armed Karen and Shan groups to wage proxy war against the Burmese.

The use of people like Nor Kham was deemed necessary to keep Thailand from getting blood on its hands. But with the killings of the 13 Chinese, these pirates of the Mekong may have outlived their usefulness; hence the decision to single him out.

Chalerm has vowed to get to the bottom of the incident. But few believe he has the courage to tell the whole truth. The same lack of courage is on display in the Army. Will its leadership be willing to admit that their people have direct dealings with the likes of Nor Kham?

As Beijing breathes down its neck, it seems the government's strategy at this point is to save its own skin and have the Army take the fall. The charges against the nine soldiers will likely be dismissed as there is no solid evidence against them. But that won't remove other allegations that could serve to keep a spotlight trained on Thailand's dubious activities in the Golden Triangle. It's the kind of topic nobody wants to talk about, but we must if we wish to get to the bottom of this gruesome murder and fully understand the security challenges of the region

nationlogo.jpg

-- The Nation 2011-11-13

Posted
Chalerm has vowed to get to the bottom of the incident. But few believe he has the courage to tell the whole truth.

I don't think lack of 'courage' is the reason

Posted
Chalerm has vowed to get to the bottom of the incident. But few believe he has the courage to tell the whole truth.

I don't think lack of 'courage' is the reason

You never know. Sometimes the people with the biggest mouths are the biggest cowards.

Posted
Chalerm has vowed to get to the bottom of the incident. But few believe he has the courage to tell the whole truth.

I don't think lack of 'courage' is the reason

You never know. Sometimes the people with the biggest mouths are the biggest cowards.

Sometimes?

Posted
Chalerm has vowed to get to the bottom of the incident. But few believe he has the courage to tell the whole truth.

I don't think lack of 'courage' is the reason

You never know. Sometimes the people with the biggest mouths are the biggest cowards.

Sometimes?

Thanks Thaddeus. I should have said "usually".

Actually in my mind I think "always" ... but I try to be open-minded here in this forum. ;)

Posted

If memory serves correctly. Chalerm/family have first hand experience dealing with the army, waivers from service, etc. If there was ever a justification for birth control/abortion, he and his family are poster candidates.

Posted

The Thai police are in drugs and contract killings up to their necks, now it appears that the Thai army is in the same business ventures...... Will be curious to see how this plays out. With China really pissed off at the killing of their nationals, I suspect the standard Thai method of denying everything and waiting for things to go away will not work. With the Army hovering on the edge of yet another coup, this will be a bit of a set back for them with the bad publicity of " rogue soldiers"......

Also to have Chalerm be pointing the finger at killers and bringing them to justice, brings irony to the absolute highest level... :lol:

Posted

The Thai police are in drugs and contract killings up to their necks, now it appears that the Thai army is in the same business ventures...... Will be curious to see how this plays out. With China really pissed off at the killing of their nationals, I suspect the standard Thai method of denying everything and waiting for things to go away will not work. With the Army hovering on the edge of yet another coup, this will be a bit of a set back for them with the bad publicity of " rogue soldiers"......

Also to have Chalerm be pointing the finger at killers and bringing them to justice, brings irony to the absolute highest level... :lol:

The whole Chalerm thing has the air of Farting at a Fan.

Posted

I think the Thai and Chinese officials will get to the bottom of this. No stones will be left unturned.

The Chinese will work tirelessly to uncover the truth. We all know how much they care about the well-being and welfare of their citizens. (This is the only reason they seek the truth)

As for Thailand, they will have "Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung" crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i'. This man epitomises 'truth', 'honesty' and 'integrity'.

Right, I'm off to watch some Thai soaps.

Posted

The Thai police are in drugs and contract killings up to their necks, now it appears that the Thai army is in the same business ventures...... Will be curious to see how this plays out. With China really pissed off at the killing of their nationals, I suspect the standard Thai method of denying everything and waiting for things to go away will not work. With the Army hovering on the edge of yet another coup, this will be a bit of a set back for them with the bad publicity of " rogue soldiers"......

Also to have Chalerm be pointing the finger at killers and bringing them to justice, brings irony to the absolute highest level... :lol:

Actually it is nothing new. There have been past PM's who have been known to use the Thai Army local regimes for their ill gain on the Burmese border and in the Triangle.

This whole story stunk when it first came up with the involvement of the Thai Army sounding very suspicious. The Army personel involved should be dealth with border style.

Posted

I think they probably already have a pretty clear idea as to what happened.

I guess they all (Thai and Chinese officials, the "businessmen" and the other shady characters up there) are now just playing the usual games, bargaining on a final version of the story that will appease their various constituencies and paymasters while trying not to get more of themselves knocked off in the process.

Posted

As an adjunct to the Thai academician suing the government thread, there's ample evidence Kittiratt Na-Ranong could legitimately sue Reuters for defamation for the egregious slur of identifying him as Chalerm.

Link to Photo

U.S. President Barack Obama (right) and first lady Michelle Obama greet Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung as he arrives at the opening dinner of the APEC Leaders Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii November 12, 2011.

Reuters

Posted

It always amazes me the way Thai police, Army, etc.conduct investigations. it seems so easy and quick results, it seems thateither they were part of conspiracy and already know so much or always find afall guy to close the matters, either way they really are not that skills tofinds answers so easy

Posted

I don't think that the Thai authorities can allow this to go the same way as the Saudi gems case. China is a little closer to home & has a lot more economic clout over the Thais than Saudi Arabia.

The question is will China accept scapegoats - which is standard procedure for the Thai police - or look for a bit more hard evidence & real culprits. This may be rather too much for someone like Chalerm to handle as he has never been too closely involved with the truth.

Which country is Thaksin likely to visit in the near future?

Posted

Thai Army...?

Som Num Na

They have no problem with killing their own people, so they will not count to ten before they shoot down a bunch of Chinese when no one is looking. Usual poorly-researched article by the Nation, not making it clear whether it happened in Thai waters or not.

"...occurred some 20 kilometres north of Thailand's territorial waters, would also be a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Burma and Laos." and then... "According to the military's initial explanation, Pha Muang Task Force soldiers intercepted two boats as they entered Thai waters"

As usual, just a political agenda, to dump on Chalerm.

Posted

So in short the military killed the crew of two ships that was smuggling 1 million Yaba pills - on what terms will the Chinese complain? Do you know what they do to smugglers? Oh, well, atleast foreign...

Posted

Neither Chalerm's story nor the army's is in any way believable. This is something much more murky which may never come out. Chalerm has a long standing grudge against the military, quite apart from last year's red shirt BS which he probably coulnd't care less about. He had to flee the country in 1991 after the coup and seek political asylum in Denmark for a year because he had made remarks deemed insulting to the top brass. He was forced to bow and scrape his apologies (and no doubt make some substantial cash payments) in order to be allowed home. The Chinese involvement is a big mistake for Chalerm. They will persevere doggedly on this one and will not be intimidated by him.

Posted

Chalerm's involvement is his part in an orchestrated story. The Chinese must have some sort of face-saving action, so have the soldiers take the fall temporarily until everything cools down, then quietly all charges are dropped.

Those two boats were involved in smuggling either drugs or money. Chinese businessmen are reportedly building a casino in Laos, and large amounts of cash is being sent downriver to pay for it. The crewmen were executed because the boats were robbed or to send a strong message.

Perhaps one day the true story will come out, but the one we have now aint it

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