Thailand, botched drug raids: Husband relives hell of wife's killing
Husband relives hell of wife's killing | Bangkok Post: news
Husband relives hell of wife's killing
The spouse of a 60-year-old woman shot by out of uniform police in a botched drug raid is after justice in what is not an isolated incident
Sujin Piboon has refused to cremate his wife, who he says would still be alive if only her killers had worn their uniforms.
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EVIDENCE: Police examine bullet holes in the Honda Civic car belonging to Sujin Piboon.
Last month his wife of 40 years was shot dead by police officers during a botched drug bust in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The 58-year-old mechanic says his wife, Sopha Piboon, who was 60 when she was killed, will not rest in peace until justice has been served.
The nationwide "War on Drugs" has spread to almost every corner of the country. Critics have pointed out that many innocents have been caught in the crossfire.
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OUT FOR JUSTICE: Sujin Piboon speaks to reporters after his car was shot at by border patrol police officers who thought it contained a drug gang. His wife Sopha was killed in the incident.
Mr Sujin, who works for Siam Cement Group, vividly remembers every detail of the series of events that led to his wife's death on March 31.
From the SCG's cement plant where he works in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Thung Song district he drove his Honda Civic to Muang district where he picked up Sopha, who had been in town for a massage.
The couple later had dinner at a relative's house before heading to their home in Ron Phibun district.
As the couple neared their house, they saw a pickup truck with several fully armed young men on board pull over to the side of the road. The men flagged down the couple's car.
Mr Sujin said it was dark and, when total strangers wielding firearms tried to stop his car, the first thought that ran through his head was to escape.
"I was thinking they were bandits," he said.
Mr Sujin stepped on the gas and tried to outrun the pickup, which pursued them.
Multiple shots were then fired from the truck at his car.
After the defeaning sound of gunshots died down, Mr Sujin heard his wife cry out in pain. She had been hit from the back.
Mr Sujin was unhurt. He intended to drive to the nearest roadside police kiosk for help.
But this proved impossible his tyres had been blown out by the gunfire.
As his car ground to a halt, the men in the pickup called out that they were border patrol police officers.
"I hurried out of the car when I heard they were policemen. I needed help," he said. However, instead of helping, the officers ordered Mr Sujin to put his arms in the air and crouch on the ground.
''I pleaded with them to take my injured wife to hospital. But they yelled at me and demanded to know if I had hidden anyone or anything in my car,'' he said. ''I told them I drove away because I didn't realise they were police officers.''
The policemen rummaged through his car. When they saw he had concealed nothing, they helped get Sopha to the Ron Phibun Hospital but it was too late, and she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Local police told him the cops on the pickup truck were after a group of methamphetamine traffickers driving a car that looked like his on the same road.
''And the officers shot at us without checking. Is this how the police operate?'' Mr Sujin said.
There has been no apology from the police, he said. If the officers had worn their uniforms, he would have stopped his car, averting the tragedy.
Mr Sujin has vowed not to cremate Sopha until his family receives justice.
This is the second case in four months that police have been accused of excessive force against those they suspected of illicit drugs possession.
On Dec 27 last year, Phairot Saengrit, an engineer at a factory in Rayong, was shot dead by police during a drug crackdown in Sakon Nakhon's Muang district. Police claimed they discovered 198 speed pills in Phairot's underwear.
But Phairot's father, Songserm, did not believe his son was carrying the drugs and filed petitions to central authorities to intercede in the case.
The House committee on police affairs recently concluded that Sakon Nakhon police had overreacted and recommended the Royal Thai Police investigate the case.
Nakhon Si Thammarat police chief Pol Lt Gen Ronnapong Saikaew promised a full and fair investigation into Sopha's death.
The officers in the pickup were attached to the province's Border Patrol Unit 42.
The officers must accept responsibility or face arrest, he said, adding the police must be more careful when using their guns.
He conceded incidents like these have made the police's job of suppressing illicit drugs harder.
''Officers must wear the uniform to make themselves recognisable,'' Pol Lt Gen Ronnapong said.
Unit 42 chief Singhanart Sikakaew said the police had meant to shoot at the tyres of Mr Sujin's car to stop the vehicle. But the bullets strayed and inadvertently hit Sopha.
He insisted the police had followed proper procedures in mounting the attack.
However, the unit was ready to explain to the family that the officers were not attempting to take the law into their own hands.
Pol Lt Gen Ronnapong said intense drug suppression may actually perpetuate the drug trade.
The suppression had restricted supplies of illicit drugs, he said, pushing up their price. When the drugs fetch higher prices, more people are willing to take greater risks to traffic them.
