Thailand's Trigger-Happy Cops

[kensington]

Suspect was shot and fell into the bush and then he was shot a few more times at close range and it was all caught on camera. Amazing Thailand...

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Killing of suspect filmed
PM wants explanation of video on YouTube

* Published: 16/12/2010 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: News

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called on police to explain how they killed a man suspected of involvement in the drive-by shooting of a 12 year-old boy.

Amanbelieved to be a plain-clothes police officer shoots at a target thought to be highway murder and drug trafficking suspect Charnchai Prasongsil in Ayutthaya on Saturday. The video clip has been posted on the YouTube website.

Mr Abhisit said yesterday his government did not support extrajudicial killings by police.

Video footage purportedly showing police shooting to death their suspect in the fatal drive-by attack on Phokin "Nong Tomee" Deephiu was uploaded on YouTube on Monday.

The youngster died on Saturday of injuries sustained in a road rage attack in Ayutthaya on Dec 4.

Just hours after the youngster's death, police tracked down one of the suspects in the killing to an apartment near Ayutthaya and shot him.

The clip, uploaded to YouTube by "regist53", is said to show police attempting to arrest Charnchai Prasongsil, also known as Joke Paikiew, 29, on the night of the boy's death, near an apartment in Ayutthaya.


Part of the clip shows a man firing two shots at a target lying in a wet overgrown area. The scene is in darkness but voices heard in the clip indicate the target is Charnchai. It is unclear if the man was dead or alive when he was shot but someone is heard in the video as saying that he might be alive.

The video appears to have been taken for official purposes, possibly by rescue workers, as police are heard telling them when to stop filming.

After a policeman shoots repeatedly at the target, he is told to put away his gun. He is named in the video as "Theng".

Police raided the apartment where their chief suspects, Charnchai and his brother Noppon Prasongsil, known as Jib Paikiew, were staying.

Charnchai was killed by police while Mr Noppon managed to escape. Mr Noppon was caught in Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in district on Tuesday.

Mr Abhisit said yesterday his government did not support extrajudicial police killings. "They are not the right, or sustainable solution," he said.

The prime minister wanted to know what happened on the night Charnchai was killed.

Police, meanwhile, are defending their actions, insisting Charnchai, who was also a suspected drug trafficker, was armed and dangerous, and had shot at them first.

The clip has drawn mixed reactions from the public. Some posters who viewed the video supported the police action while others disagreed.

"How can this be a legal killing when police can point the gun at a suspect who is lying down and shoot him dead?" asked one poster.

Another wrote: "He fired at police so police were entitled to kill him. Suspects can pretend to die, only to shoot police who approach."

"Think about what he did to the 12-year old boy. He was also a drug trafficker," another poster wrote. "He deserved to be killed."

Somchai Homla-or, a human rights activist, said Charnchai's relatives could appoint a lawyer to have the case heard in court if they think police overacted.

Public prosecutors will also join an investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings as required by law to ensure justice.

Pol Gen Asawin Khwanmuang, senior adviser to the Royal Thai Police Office and acting commissioner of Provincial Police Region 1, who supervised the operation and is seen in the video footage, insisted police did not overreact.

"The police did what they had to do," he said. "I swear on the honour of my police service that spans most of my life that the police did not overreact and I believe society will understand them."

He had not seen the clip. He insisted that all officers on the mission were well trained and strictly followed regulations. Police would not have killed the man had they not been shot at.

The arrest of Charnchai's younger brother Noppon on Tuesday went smoothly and police did not hurt anyone even though he was carrying a gun.

Pol Gen Asawin met Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban at Government House yesterday to report on the operation.

Mr Suthep said later the attack on the vehicle which carried Nong Tomee was an appalling crime and shocked the public. He thanked the police for solving the case and making the arrests quickly.


http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crimes/211496/killing-of-suspect-filmed

 

[kensington]

Did police overreact in killing the suspected drive-by shooter?

Like it or not, the cyberspace social network YouTube has increasingly made inroads into our daily lives. It often serves as Big Brother, keeping watch on the our activities, especially the activities of the authorities, through its tens of thousands of voluntary netizens.

Last Saturday night’s police shooting of an alleged drug trafficker suspected to have randomly killed a 12-year old boy on Dec 4 in a drive-by shooting in Ayutthaya has sparked a heated debate among netizens about whether police overreacted or not.

The debate follows the uploading of a videoclip on YouTube by “regist53” apparently showing the fatal shooting at an apartment in Ayutthaya province when police moved in to arrest 29-year old Charnchai, alias Joke, Paikiew, and his brother Prasongsil, or Jib, for the murder of young Phokin “Nong Tomee” Deephiu, who was in the car they attacked.

Part of the clip shows a man thought to be a plainclothes policeman firing two shots at a target, later identified as Charnchai, lying in a wet overgrown area. It was not known whether Charnchai was dead at the time he was seen being shot.

Reactions to the clip among the posters were mixed, with people both for and against the extrajudicial killing of the suspect. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva appeared to be unhappy with allegation that the arresting officers might have overdone it and has asked for an explanation from the police.

Pol Gen Asawin Kwanmuang, acting commissioner of Region 1 Provincial Police and special adviser to the Royal Thai Police Office, was adamant that his men had acted properly in accordance with the rules of engagement in dealing with an armed and dangerous suspect.

He said his men would not have killed the suspect had he not shot at them first.

Human rights activist Somchai Homla-or said the victim’s relatives could take the case to court if they wished.

The big question for now is: Did police overreact or not? In order to get the right answer, there must be an investigation by an independent panel. A mere explanation from the police, as demanded by the prime minister, will not suffice. Nor would it dispel the doubts in the minds of many people.

As shown in the videoclip, Charnchai was shot as he was lying motionless on the ground by a man thought to be a plainclothes policeman. Whether he was dead at the time or not was not an excuse for the police to shoot at him first while approaching him. That was not self defence at all.

Police should have a better way to approach a suspect and to subdue him without the need to open fire simply because they were not sure if he was already dead and felt that he was dangerous.

Police might not be happy and might be demoralised by the fierce criticism of their actions, butt this is normal in an open society especially in an era of social networking when information spreads at lightning speed and there is little chance for secrets to be hidden from the public.

Big Brother is watching and police must be aware of this. No longer can police repeat the deadly "war on drugs” during the Thaksin regime, which saw more than 2,500 suspected drug dealers killed without arrest or trial, and escape unscathed as they did then.

There is no question that the trade in illicit drugs, especially methamphetamine or ya ba, has been flourishing and that every community appears to be affected. Many drug traffickers have become filthy rich from the illegal business, profiting from the suffering of so many of our youths who become addicted and of society at large.

However, the blatant extrajudicial killing of drug dealers is not the right solution, and is definitely against the rule of law.

And in the case of the Paikiew brothers, who reportedly have amassed more than 40 million baht in just a few years in the drug business, one may wonder how they survived for so long without the police moving in on them. Police have admitted they knew of their activities.

And if it had not been for the fatal shooting of the 12-year old boy, inspired by anger that the driver of the car supposedly cut in front of their motorbike, would the two brothers’ drug dealings have been exposed at all? Would the police have taken action against them?

 

[kensington]

Where baddies get their guns


When police held a press conference last week to announce a breakthrough in their investigation into the Dec 4 drive-by shooting in Ayutthaya, in which a 12-year-old boy was fatally shot, about 20 firearms allegedly owned by two suspected shooters and several million baht in hard cash believed earned from drug trafficking, were put on display for the media.

One of the suspects, Charnchai Prasongsil alias Joke Paikiew, 29, was shot dead by police in a raid on their apartment in Ayutthaya.

The media was keen to find out from police about the other suspect, Charnchai's younger brother Noppon, whose capture they hoped would shed light on the motive for the boy's killing, and also the suspected drug money amassed by the two brothers. No questions were asked as to how the two brothers had managed to acquire such a substantial cache of firearms and whether any or all of them were licensed or not. Neither did the police volunteer this information.

But a source at Bangkok's firearms registration office disclosed that a thorough check of the office's track record of licensed gun owners did not show either the name of Charnchai or Noppon as having ever applied for a gun licence. Which means that all the 20 guns found in their possession, including three Glock semi-automatic pistols and several shotguns, had been illegally purchased, apparently from dealers in smuggled firearms.

There are now about 4 million licensed guns owned by private individuals in Thailand. Nobody appears to know for sure the number of illegal firearms in the hands of private individuals and, in particular, the outlaws.

However, one might make a rough guess from the statistics recorded four years ago, when the government announced a general amnesty for those who owned unlicensed firearms to surrender them to the authorities. Several tens of thousands of illegal firearms were surrendered at that time.

The smuggling of illegal firearms, including semi-automatic pistols, into the country through certain neighbouring countries where gun laws are lax, is a lucrative business. It is partially fuelled by import restrictions, which for many years now have imposed a quota system under which each dealer is permitted to import only 30 handguns and 50 rifles per year. These numbers are several times short of demand, which has always been on the rise.

Hence, the so-called "gun welfare" schemes occasionally launched by governmental agencies such as the Provincial Administration Department or the Port Authority of Thailand, which are supposed to secure handguns for their men at below-market prices, to beat the import quota system.

Restricting gun ownership, handguns in particular, by tightening up the screening process would surely help prevent such weapons from falling into the wrong hands - of people not necessarily criminals but who are of unstable mental health, or who are aggressive by nature, as is believed the case with the two brothers.

It would also help in reducing the number of homicide cases associated with the use of licensed firearms. Of course, this measure will not work against those who seek out illegal firearms, as was the case with the Prasongsil brothers.

Also worth considering in a public debate would be the issue of whether the number of guns of a certain calibre permissible for each individual, should be limited or not.

 

[Ramseth]

From prima facie evidence, what the Thai police did was right. Singapore police or even US police would have done that too. All confirmed firearmed suspects posing public danger should be shot to death, unless there's open disarming and surrendering offered. This is not extra-judicial execution. This is prudent self-defence and in defence of innocent public around and in the way. Saving a breath in such a case could probably result in his finger pulling the trigger for a last hurrah.

Don't believe in that crap you see in US and HK police TV dramas and movies. There's no such thing as shooting at limbs and stop shooting when the suspects' down. All police in the world are trained to shoot-to-kill at head and body. Firearms are weapons meant to be deadly when drawn and used. When the suspect is equivalently armed and ready to shoot and kill you and your colleagues and anyone else in way, what else do you do? Even commonsense can tell you, make sure he's dead! Once again, I reiterate, this is not rage killing, revenge killing or extra-judicial execution.

Rage killing, revenge killing or extra-judicial execution is when a suspect disarms and surrenders, but police still shoot him. Fallen in a gunfight crossfire is not disarming and surrendering. Any last breath left could turn fatal on police and public.

 

[eErotica69]

Tonychat must be happy that in Thailand, criminals have guns and Singapore criminals don't.

Tonychat must also be happy that their police and army suka suka just fire at people!!

:p

 

[silverfox@]

If there is a video clip that shows the drug dealers killing the young kid, then I think the public would not have sympathised the 2 drug dealers

 

[exSINgaporean]

If there is a video clip that shows the drug dealers killing the young kid, then I think the public would not have sympathised the 2 drug dealers

I don't need to see the other side of the video of the suspect killing or trying to kill the boy. From the circumstances....dark at night, the suspect (or rather killer) was wearing black, I will even throw a hand granade and set the whole place in fire to protect myself and my fellow police offier.

Well done Thai police.

 

[kensington]

All we know is that the cop who discharged those last few bullets are in hiding with his family somewhere in the other provinces because by now his entire family is in danger from the repercussions of those brothers' gang.

It really sucks to be a cop in Thailand because the other guys are always better packed that of the police. The moral of this is that it never pays to be a hero in Thai's society. Guess what? His boss might even give him up IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT.... or he is being squeezed in the right place. That's the real Thailand unplugged.

Amazing Thailand again...

 

[tomoko]

Which is worse:

This trigger happy Thai cop

or

the malaysian cops?

Malaysian cops will use their sub-machine gun to shoot criminals, no questions ask, even before the criminals do anything. When malaysian police run into criminals and they will just open up their machine guns..

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2010/12/08/the-illegitimate-use-of-violence/

The Illegitimate Use Of Violence
posted on Wednesday, 8 December 2010, 11:07 am

 

[tonychat]

Tonychat must be happy that in Thailand, criminals have guns and Singapore criminals don't.

Tonychat must also be happy that their police and army suka suka just fire at people!!

:p

In Thailand, people has the freedom to do whatever they wanted, much like in the USA , people do own guns for self-protection.

In Sinkieland, the sinkie only carry a gun when they are order to do so by their white scum for show, without firing a single bullet in a real situation while protecting their scum who screw them daily.

The real meaning of carrying a gun in sinkie context is to be screw eventually, much like many other shits they try to do.