Friends on high keep hitmen out of police range

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Friends on high keep hitmen out of police range

The release of a list of 112 wanted assassins underscores the dilemma facing authorities who know their enemy, and are also aware of the powers that protect them
Published: 22/05/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: Spectrum  

By the police's own admission Thailand has over 110 hitmen, so why _ a reasonable person might ask _ are they not behind bars if law enforcement agencies know who they are?

A week ago, the Royal Thai Police released a list of 112 hitmen and offered a cash reward of 100,000 baht to anyone who might provide information leading to an arrest. A "Most Wanted" poster was also paraded for the press featuring 50 faces of known gunmen.

The call for public help in tracking the guns-for-hire ahead of the July 3 national election was sparked by the shooting of former Pheu Thai MP for Samut Prakan, Pracha Prasopdee, who the previous Tuesday suffered bullet wounds to the back and head.

Mr Pracha later said he was convinced the attempted assassination was politically motivated, although police have yet to confirm the theory.

"I know who ordered the contract on me. A son of a politician has passed on a message via a senior official that when I am no longer an MP, he will shoot me. Barely two days after the House dissolution, I was shot," Mr Pracha said.

Pol Lt Col Panmanee Nontakote, who has researched hitmen in Thailand, agrees that it's probably the work of professional gunmen. "Considering what happened to Mr Pracha, we can see that it's almost the same as the killing patterns in the past," said the officer, who has studied hitmen in Thailand, including their motivation, psychology, occupations and associations with influential business and political figures.

Pol Lt Col Panmanee is deputy commander of the Research and Assessment Unit at the Royal Thai Police Office. The research project was launched following Thaksin Shinawatra's 2004 war on drugs and the former prime minister's probing of "influential figures".

The researchers, who interviewed 15 convicted hitmen, wanted to learn more about the underworld of professional killers so that police investigators could better plan how to detect and arrest them.

According to the research, political disputes at both the local and national levels was the main motive for the professional killings. The other was conflicts over business investments involving influential figures.

 Stone cold: Killer aims at 'Bad people'

 Village killing: Murder to 'solve disputes'

Psychologically, the hitmen were found to have big egos coupled with a sense of loyalty to family, friends and employers which attracted them to settle disputes by force.

One of the professional killers said he started his career as an act of revenge for a friend.

But some of the researchers weren't convinced by the claims of the "brave, loyal, friend" argument, saying many of the victims were shot from behind and the killers simply had an urge to kill.

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