Two Lao-americans Murdered In Ubon Ratchathani

[sriracha john]

Two Americans killed at border

Two Americans of Lao origin were shot dead execution-style in Thailand while returning from their homeland, police said Thursday. Soukanh Visathep, 65, a former Lao government police officer, and Somvang Keomanyvong, 61, a former army officer, were shot and killed by a lone gunman as they arrived by bus at a northeastern Thai-Lao border crossing on Wednesday evening.

Both men were shot at point blank range in the head in front of frightened onlookers at Ubon Ratchathani's busy bus terminal. They died at the scene. The victims arrived in Thailand from Portland, United States with their families on Nov 17 and went straight to their hometown of Pakse in Champasak province, southern Laos, across the Mekong River from Ubon Ratchathani province.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=115097

[Aujuba]

The killing never seems to end when it comes to Lao refugees visiting home. The Thai police should have caught the killers.

[Rinrada]

The killing never seems to end when it comes to Lao refugees visiting home. The Thai police should have caught the killers.

Quote from the report:

Several Lao-Americans and Laos citizens believed to be against the Laos communist government have been shot dead in Thai border provinces.

Laos has denied any involvement in the killing of several anti-government activists, including a Lao-American couple shot dead in January.

Police refused to speculate on whether Wednesday's victims were anti-government activists, and said they had not yet arrested anyone in connection with the double killing.

One- Two- Three..........wot do/would you recon?......

PC Ploddi of Ubons (Dixon of Dock Green).....got any chance

[BigSnake]

Sound likes a big time pay back via the HITMAN. Sadden

[sriracha john]

Two Americans killed in Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand - Two American men were shot to death Wednesday at a bus station in northeastern Thailand after returning from a trip to Laos, and Thai police said they suspect a political connection to the killings.

Initial investigations showed the killings were "related to the conflict in Laos," said police Lt. Col. Saran Nilawan, who is heading the probe into the murders.

According to Thai television station iTV, police suspected the men were killed because of possible links to a group opposed to the government of Laos, a single-party communist state.

The two men from Portland, Ore., were identified as Somvangh Keomanyvong and Soukanh Visathep, Saran said. The wives of both men were with them when they were attacked in Ubon Rachathani, 300 miles northeast of Bangkok, but both women were unharmed.

The pair were shot by a man wearing a black hat as they waited to pick up their luggage after arriving by bus with their wives and three other travel companions from the southern Lao province of Champassak, Saran said. The men had arrived in Thailand on Nov. 17 and Somvangh was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. on Thursday.

Both men moved to the U.S. about 30 years ago, Saran said. While still in Laos, Soukanh worked as a policeman and Somvangh served as a soldier. Relatives were arranging to have their bodies returned to the U.S.

The iTV report said that the two men claimed to be related to one of the now defunct Lao royal families. It was not immediately possible to confirm any link to royalty.

The case came almost a year after the January murder of a Laotian-American couple shot dead in Nong Khai, another northeastern Thai town near the border with Laos.

Anouwong and Oulayvanh Sethathirath had claimed to be descendants of a Laotian royal family, and apparently had contacts with some Laotian anti-government groups. They were known in their hometown of Fairview, N.C., as Phillip and Ashley McRowan.

In May, Thai police arrested Athit Klinchana, a suspected Thai hit man, who told them he was hired by the Laotian government to assassinate its opponents, including the McRowans. He allegedly said he was paid $2,600 for each assassination.

During interrogation, police said they found he was linked to at least seven other killings.

The Laotian government denied involvement in the May murders.

- Associated Press

[sriracha john]

The case came almost a year after the January murder of a Laotian-American couple shot dead in Nong Khai, another northeastern Thai town near the border with Laos.

Thaivisa thread concerning that double homicide:

Lao-American Couple Shot In Nong Khai, Police investigate slaying

Edited December 14, 2006 by sriracha john

[soi lurker]

Payback's a biatch. You need look no further than they're previous employment for answers.

[sriracha john]

Police link murders of Lao-Americans to anti-Vientiane movement

Ubon Ratchathani - Local police have linked the murders of two Lao-Americans from Oregon on Wednesday with either anti-Vientiane movement or personal conflicts.

Soukanh Visathep, 65, and Somvang Keomanyvong, 61 were shot dead on Wednesday evening as they arrived by bus at an Ubon Ratchathani bus station from Laos' southern Champasak province.

A gunman shot them with a .38 revolver pistol at the heads while they were picking belongings from the bus.

Background information from relatives who traveled with the pair indicated that they were security officers of Laos's previous regime before the fall of Vientiane in 1975.

Soukanh was a former police at Vang Tao checkpoint in Champasak while Somvang was a soldier of Lao Royal Army in Champasak's Pakse district.

Judged by their background and frequent travelling to neighbouring Laos, the two might link to an anti-Vientiane movement, said Ubon Ratchathani's deputy police chief Pol Col Kriangsak Rasasat.

The gunman was expectedly in the same ring of those who killed many member of the anti-Lao government, he added.

However, business or personal conflict might be motivation of the murder as well, police said.

Khammai Visathep, a younger brother of Soukanh said the two are brother-in-law have fled from home more than 30 years ago. They run a small business of making picture frame in the US, he said.

He noted the business is too small to cause any serious conflict that might lead to a murder. Khammai did not disclose whether the two had any connections with anti-Vientiane movement.

Many members of anti-Lao communist movement were shot dead in Thailand's border provinces over the past couple of years and some suspected Thai gunmen were brought into justice over the past months.

The Lao government consistently denied any linkage of murder in Thailand.

- The Nation

[The Skipper]

Could it be they pissed off some Lao Mafia in the States and the killings were ordered from over there?

[Tompa]

A lot of violence in the last few days. A Dane was shot and killed in Koh Samui last night while a Swede was seriously injured in the same shooting!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=96881

[Scott]

Condolences to the friends and family.

[britmaveric]

Obvious revenge killing.

[Casanundra]

I'm not an American but it does annoy me with these sensationalist headlines that state 'Two Americans shot dead' or like the other one the other day that stated something like "an American is extradited back to Thailand to face terrorism charges' and so on and on it goes...

Then when you open the threads and read them you find that they are actually Laos or Vietnamese or Chinese or Pakistani or Indian or Italian or Spanish or English or what ever and who just so happens to have a green card or who has become an American national. I am not being a racist here before anyone decides to jump on me about this, but I am merely pointing out that you don't hear anyone who is say American who happens to have PR or national status in say Japan or Hong kong or Singapore or Thailand as being declared as 'Thai man extradited back to the USA for sex charges' or 'Japanese man shot dead in LA' do you as they will always focus on the fact that he was / is an American first!

Why don't these sensationalists just be honest and declare it more accurately and state something like "Laos couple from America shot dead" or "Laos Americans shot dead" instead of just focussing on the American part... it really bugs me because it skews the story entirely and puts a completely new perspective on it when you actually get to read the story!

grrrr

[Spenthouse]

I'm not an American but it does annoy me with these sensationalist headlines that state 'Two Americans shot dead' or like the other one the other day that stated something like "an American is extradited back to Thailand to face terrorism charges' and so on and on it goes...

Then when you open the threads and read them you find that they are actually Laos or Vietnamese or Chinese or Pakistani or Indian or Italian or Spanish or English or what ever and who just so happens to have a green card or who has become an American national. I am not being a racist here before anyone decides to jump on me about this, but I am merely pointing out that you don't hear anyone who is say American who happens to have PR or national status in say Japan or Hong kong or Singapore or Thailand as being declared as 'Thai man extradited back to the USA for sex charges' or 'Japanese man shot dead in LA' do you as they will always focus on the fact that he was / is an American first!

Why don't these sensationalists just be honest and declare it more accurately and state something like "Laos couple from America shot dead" or "Laos Americans shot dead" instead of just focussing on the American part... it really bugs me because it skews the story entirely and puts a completely new perspective on it when you actually get to read the story!

grrrr

under your theory only red indians should be called americans then!

[sriracha john]

I'm not an American but it does annoy me with these sensationalist headlines that state 'Two Americans shot dead' or like the other one the other day that stated something like "an American is extradited back to Thailand to face terrorism charges' and so on and on it goes...

Then when you open the threads and read them you find that they are actually Laos or Vietnamese or Chinese or Pakistani or Indian or Italian or Spanish or English or what ever and who just so happens to have a green card or who has become an American national. I am not being a racist here before anyone decides to jump on me about this, but I am merely pointing out that you don't hear anyone who is say American who happens to have PR or national status in say Japan or Hong kong or Singapore or Thailand as being declared as 'Thai man extradited back to the USA for sex charges' or 'Japanese man shot dead in LA' do you as they will always focus on the fact that he was / is an American first!

Why don't these sensationalists just be honest and declare it more accurately and state something like "Laos couple from America shot dead" or "Laos Americans shot dead" instead of just focussing on the American part... it really bugs me because it skews the story entirely and puts a completely new perspective on it when you actually get to read the story!

grrrr

The Americans in both articles ARE fully American citizens, which with the exception of Native Americans, is a nation of immigrants, however in the interest of saving casanundra's time while browsing through the forum index, might I request the mods change the two thread titles to:

Insignificant Lao Garbage Disposed Of

and

Typical Vietnamese Scum Sent For Trial

Thank you, mods.

Edited December 15, 2006 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Just had a thought after reading some older posts by casanundra and wonder if it's his junior office boy who actually made that post... which might make sense that he would be in a hurry while scanning the forum index while on the boss's computer...

[Siripon]

When referring to American blacks nowadays they have to be called Afro-Americans. Therefore, these victims of the Lao government's assassinations of opponents should be called Lao- Americans.

After all, one had worked as a policeman in Laos pre 1975. They were certainly more Lao than most American blacks are Africans.

[Rinrada]

So wot about Eskimos...?

[ColPyat]

So wot about Eskimos...?

They Injuns, therefore Native Americans.

[sriracha john]

So wot about Eskimos...?

It would depend on their nationality. Some are Americans, some are Canadians, and some are Russian.

[Rinrada]

Bit of info....

People we call Eskimos originally came from Asia across a land

bridge (which no longer exists) into northern North America (now

called Alaska).

They gradually spread across the Arctic regions of

the continent.

Eventually they came to live in four countries: (1)the Soviet Union; (2) the United States (Alaska); (3) Canada; and (4)Greenland.

Bunch of Thais on a day trip a long time ago.........who got lost.......

[ovenman]

So wot about Eskimos...?

They Injuns, therefore Native Americans.

Injuns? Didn't slur that go out with John Wayne? Methinks you ought to lay off the steady diet of 40's and 50's Westerns.

[sriracha john]

So wot about Eskimos...?

It would depend on their nationality. Some are Americans, some are Canadians, and some are Russian.

Eventually they came to live in four countries: (1)the Soviet Union; (2) the United States (Alaska); (3) Canada; and (4)Greenland.

thank you for reminding me, I had forgotten to include Greenland.

*edit*

and yes, ovenman, in 2006... that term is considered a vile racial slur.

Edited December 15, 2006 by sriracha john

[ColPyat]

So wot about Eskimos...?

They Injuns, therefore Native Americans.

Injuns? Didn't slur that go out with John Wayne? Methinks you ought to lay off the steady diet of 40's and 50's Westerns.

Actually, i learned those slurs from Cormac McCarthy's brilliant novels.

[Farma]

Back on topic.

On my trip to Champasak we passed a former palace that still had members of the Lao royals living in it as “normal” citizens.

The official Lao guide told us these former royals were only allowed to stay if they gave up all claims to their royal background. She also informed us other royals who had not fled into exile had been executed when the present government took over.

This official guide also gave the distinct impression any attempts to visit Lao by exiled former royals and their descendents would not be welcomed.

The associated press article stated these 2 men had claimed to be descendents of the Lao royal family.

From what the guide told me I tend to think there’s a hint of official involvement in the murders.

[deathmetalxxx]

Two Americans killed at border

Two Americans of Lao origin were shot dead execution-style in Thailand while returning from their homeland, police said Thursday. Soukanh Visathep, 65, a former Lao government police officer, and Somvang Keomanyvong, 61, a former army officer, were shot and killed by a lone gunman as they arrived by bus at a northeastern Thai-Lao border crossing on Wednesday evening.

Both men were shot at point blank range in the head in front of frightened onlookers at Ubon Ratchathani's busy bus terminal. They died at the scene. The victims arrived in Thailand from Portland, United States with their families on Nov 17 and went straight to their hometown of Pakse in Champasak province, southern Laos, across the Mekong River from Ubon Ratchathani province.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=115097

lol.. payback sucks now, doesnt it

[sriracha john]

Two Americans killed at border

Two Americans of Lao origin were shot dead execution-style in Thailand while returning from their homeland, police said Thursday. Soukanh Visathep, 65, a former Lao government police officer, and Somvang Keomanyvong, 61, a former army officer, were shot and killed by a lone gunman as they arrived by bus at a northeastern Thai-Lao border crossing on Wednesday evening.

Both men were shot at point blank range in the head in front of frightened onlookers at Ubon Ratchathani's busy bus terminal. They died at the scene. The victims arrived in Thailand from Portland, United States with their families on Nov 17 and went straight to their hometown of Pakse in Champasak province, southern Laos, across the Mekong River from Ubon Ratchathani province.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=115097

lol.. payback sucks now, doesnt it

Two people are shot in the head in front of their wives and that elicits a "lol" response??

:D

a "joined today" troll of the first order...

Edited December 17, 2006 by sriracha john

[sonnyJ]

So wot about Eskimos...?

It would depend on their nationality. Some are Americans, some are Canadians, and some are Russian.

Eventually they came to live in four countries: (1)the Soviet Union; (2) the United States (Alaska); (3) Canada; and (4)Greenland.

thank you for reminding me, I had forgotten to include Greenland.

*edit*

and yes, ovenman, in 2006... that term is considered a vile racial slur.

And actually Greenland is not a country. It's a part of Denmark I believe.

[Mid]

So wot about Eskimos...?

It would depend on their nationality. Some are Americans, some are Canadians, and some are Russian.

Eventually they came to live in four countries: (1)the Soviet Union; (2) the United States (Alaska); (3) Canada; and (4)Greenland.

thank you for reminding me, I had forgotten to include Greenland.

*edit*

and yes, ovenman, in 2006... that term is considered a vile racial slur.

And actually Greenland is not a country. It's a part of Denmark I believe.

Integral part of Denmark from 1953 to 1979 when it was granted internal autonomy whilst remaining a part of the kingdom of Denmark with two representatives in the Danish parliament or "Folketing".

[sriracha john]

The case came almost a year after the January murder of a Laotian-American couple shot dead in Nong Khai, another northeastern Thai town near the border with Laos.

Anouwong and Oulayvanh Sethathirath had claimed to be descendants of a Laotian royal family, and apparently had contacts with some Laotian anti-government groups. They were known in their hometown of Fairview, N.C., as Phillip and Ashley McRowan.

In May, Thai police arrested Athit Klinchana, a suspected Thai hit man, who told them he was hired by the Laotian government to assassinate its opponents, including the McRowans. He allegedly said he was paid $2,600 for each assassination.

During interrogation, police said they found he was linked to at least seven other killings.

The Laotian government denied involvement in the May murders.

- Associated Press

This case updated at:

Death sentence ordered for McRowan couple's killer

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=1089868