Thread: Huge cache of seized weapons revealed

Arrested Men in Black suspects not responsible for Gen Romklao’s death

The five members of the so-called mysterious “Men in Black” arrested by a combined force of police and soldiers and introduced to the media today were not the same group of Men in Black who killed Gen Romklao Thuvatham during the red-shirt protests in April 10, 2010.

Deputy commissioner of the Royal Thai Police Pol Gen Somyos Poompanmuang said they were only responsible for battling with troops and firing at the protesters during the red-shirt protests at the Democracy Monument, at the same day when Gen Romklao was killed.

He said the killing of the general was the work of another group of men in black which the police are still investigating.

He said the police are in the process of coordinating with the Department of Special Investigation to set up a joint investigation team to handle investigation as the men in black case is a special case taken over by the DSI.

The five members of the so-called men in black were introduced at the press conference today.

They were identified as Kittisak Sumsri, alias Ouan, Preecha alias Kaitia Yooyen, Ronarit alias Na Suricha, Chamnarn alias Lek Pakeechai, and Mrs Punika alias Orn Chusri.

Pol Gen Somyos said the five suspects confessed during the police interrogation that they were involved in the shooting of army troops and civilians near the Democracy Monument on April 10 at the height of the red-shirt protests against the Abhisit government.

The battle resulted to several troops being killed, including Colonel Romklao who was posthumously promoted as a general, and also injured and died later.

Pol Gen Somyos said the five were initially charged with possessing, carrying in public and using war weapons.

He said police are still hunting for three fugitives who were identified as Jakarin or Kai Ruengsakvichit, Tanadet Ekapivat or Kai Rodtoo, and Wattanachok or Bo Chinopu.

He said this group of suspects had connection with Mrs Kritsuda or Ple Kunasen who is still at large and is wanted for the recent huge arms cache seizures.

The five suspects said they were taken into the protest rally site in a van and were designated to fire with no fixed targets.

They also claimed they were not given training in the use of weapon by anybody.

these are the murderers who are responsible for the red civilians killing and the fire they started,

hang them,

Originally Posted by S Landreth

He said this group of suspects had connection with Mrs Kritsuda or Ple Kunasen who is still at large and is wanted for the recent huge arms cache seizures.

Thailand’s chief of police has scaled back his claim that a 26-year-old Redshirt activist provided weapons to militants who fought with security officers during the 2010 unrest.

Pol.Gen. Somyot Pumpanmuang previously suggested that Kritsuda Kunasen, who is currently living in exile, supplied military-grade weapons to the suspected "Blackshirt" militants who were arrested last week. He claimed police found pay slips and money transfer records in Ms. Kritsuda's home.

But Pol.Gen. Somyot said yesterday that police have not established a clear link between the 26-year-old activist and the armed militants.

"Ms. Kritsuda may be involved with the case, but we cannot yet determine clearly what the money [Ms. Kritsuda] transferred to those accounts was for," Pol.Gen. Somyot said. "We do not know the purpose of the money."

Kritsuda's Link to "Blackshirt" Militants Unclear, Police Say

Ho Hum .........

Court delays evidence examination

The Criminal Court on Monday postponed until January the examination of evidence in the case against the so-called 'popcorn gunman' facing charges of attempted murder in connection with the anti-government in February.

The postponement came after one of the victims injured in the shooting had died.

The defendant was identified as Wiwat Yodpasit, 24, and is charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms and violation of the emergency decree. He has denied all charges.

The February 1 shooting occurred while protesters of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee ( PDRC) were laying siege to a polling unit near the Laksi district office to prevent the election from being held. The PDRC protesters were met with resistance from pro-government residents.

A man armed with a gun hidden in a popcorn bag emerged at a protest at Lak Si intersection on February 1 and opened fire at random.

An elderly street vendor hit by a stray bullet during the incident died last month after more than seven months of paralysis.

The hearing has been postponed until January 19, 2015.

Originally Posted by titan

Originally Posted by S Landreth

He said this group of suspects had connection with Mrs Kritsuda or Ple Kunasen who is still at large and is wanted for the recent huge arms cache seizures.

Thailand’s chief of police has scaled back his claim that a 26-year-old Redshirt activist provided weapons to militants who fought with security officers during the 2010 unrest.

Kritsuda's Link to "Blackshirt" Militants Unclear, Police Say

Ho Hum .........

Police have shown evidence seized from the house of red-shirt activist Kritsuda Khunasen which they have used to file weapons charge against her and five other people.

"We insist our prosecution against Ms Kritsuda is backed by evidence and witnesses. It's not an effort to discredit her," deputy police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung, who will be police chief on Oct 1, said on Friday.

The police on Sept 11 arrested four men and one woman on weapons charge in events allegedly linked to the killings at Kok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Avenue on April 10, 2010.

The police sought their arrest warrants using the evidence they had found in Ms Kritsuda's house but they did not disclose it then.

Among the papers unveiled on Friday were deposit slips made to detainees or inmates, purchase evidence of weapons including AKA, M79 and RPG launchers and ledgers of money transfers to many people from 1,000 to 100,000 baht each.

It also included a letter from a detainee thanking Ms Kritsuda for transferring him 50,000 baht.

A slip seen by reporters showed 2,000 baht had been transferred to a detainee named Ekachai Moonkate on April 10, 2012.

The Thai police and junta have been in a hot seat where Kritsuda is concerned after she accused them of torturing her and sought help and protection from international organisations including Human Rights Watch.

After the May 22 coup, Ms Kritsuda, 27, was summonsed for "attitude adjustment" by the National Council for Peace and Order on May 28.

She was detained for longer than the seven days allowed under martial law and her family was concerned about her safety.

On June 23, a televised clip showed her in custody. She said in the clip she was well and had not been tortured and there was no curb on her rights or freedom.

As soon as she was released the next day, Ms Kritsuda fled abroad and published a video clip claiming the opposite - that she was tortured during the detention, a charge the junta flatly denied.

She was later charged in absentia with having weapons and police have been trying to extradite her since.

After the police implicated her in the arrests of the five people, she released another clip denying any involvement, claiming she was still an "embryo", or a student, when the Kok Wua killings took place.

Ms Kritsuda became a volunteer to help the red shirts after the 2010 uprising and worked for a foundation set up to help political prisoners.

Red-shirt leaders, however, denied knowing her or having met her in person.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/lite/brea...inking-kritsud

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Commando police Tuesday escorted four of the seven suspects involved in the M79 grenade attack at Ratchaprasong intersection to reenact the crime they committed.

Self-control

Life terms for lethal grenade attack on protest

The Bangkok South Criminal Court on Friday sentenced four men to life imprisonment, commuted from death, for their deadly attack on an anti-Yingluck Shinawatra government protest which killed three people, two of them children, in Bangkok in February last year.

Taweechai Wichakham, 40, Soonthorn Phiphuannok, 50, Somsri Marit, 41, and Chatchawal Prabbamrung, 46, were convicted and sentenced for firing a 40mm grenade that exploded in front of the Big C store on Ratchadamri Road, close to a protest site of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), on the evening of Feb 23, 2014.

The grenade explosion killed three people - a 59-year-old woman and two siblings aged six and five years, and injured 21 other people.

The four men were arrested on July 2014. Public prosecutors arraigned them on charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder and illegal use of explosives, and other criminal offences.

The Bangkok South Criminal Court convicted and sentenced them to death, commuted to life imprisonnment for their confessions during police interrogation. Three other suspects remain at large.

Taweechai was identified as the person who actually fired the grenade with an M79 launcher. The four men travelled on three pickup trucks and their target was PDRC protesters at the nearby Ratchaprasong intersection.

Taweechai fired the grenade at the protest gathering from a pickup on a flyover above the adjacent Pratunam intersection. Because the vehicle was moving the grenade instead landed in front of the department store, where it exploded, the court was told.

Two get 43 years for M79 attack on PDRC

The Criminal Court on Friday sentenced a former guard of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship and another man to 43 years and four months in jail each for an M79 grenade attack on People's Democratic Reform Committee protesters in 2014.

Prosecutors charged Narongsak "Tui" Plai-aram, a former UDD guard, and Peerapong Sinthusonthichart, who provided the weapon, with attempted murder, illegal possessing of a firearm and ammunition and carrying them in public without appropriate reason, and causing damage to property.

On March 7, 2014 Narongsak and his collaborators launched an M79 grenade at PDRC protesters rallying in front of Shinawatra Building 3 in Chatuchak district. The grenade hit a pole on the building and ornamental trees, causing about 20,000 baht damage when it exploded.

During the trial, Narongsak confessed to the charges. He told the court he went to pick up an M79 launcher and ammunition from the parking lot at the Imperial Department Store, Lat Phrao. He gave details of the route he said he drove a man identified as Yongyuth Boondee in a car to where the M79 grenade was launched.

Peerapong confessed during police interrogation that he telephoned Narongsak to pick up the weapon used in the attack.

The court sentenced Narongsak and Peerapong to 12 years each for illegal possesion of a firearm and ammunition, three years each for carrying them in public, and life imprisonment for attempted murder.

Because of their confessions, the sentence was reduced by one-third to 43 years and four months each in prison.

Under the law, they will each serve a maximum of 20 years.

Bangkok Post

Three held for plotting attacks during 'Bike for Dad'

Three men, including a former Border Patrol policeman, have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot targeting government figures during a big national event next month, the national police chief said Wednesday.

Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said police intelligence had learned that the trio may have been plotting to create unrest and allegedly planning an attack during the "Bike for Dad" event on December 11.

The suspects were identified as Pol Sgt-Major Prathin Chanket, who was formerly with the Border Patrol Police, Pissanu Phromsorn and Nattaphol Nawanlay. They were initially accused of violating Article 112 of the Penal Code involving lese majeste and the Computer Crime Act.

Chakthip said yesterday that police had monitored the suspects' activities and movements for a while before their arrests were made.

"This group was targeting Bangkok and intelligence reports show they were aiming at important persons in the government. It could have been sabotage with the use of explosives," the police chief said.

"But we still don't know if this group has any political connections," he said, adding that police investigators have not ruled out political motivation.

Chakthip said police have evidence against the suspects, including records of their communication through social-media applications.

"The military court approved the arrest warrants because police could prove that they were planning to carry out an attack in Bangkok," the police chief said.

Police are checking to see if those suspects had anything to do with bomb attacks in Bangkok in the past, Chakthip said.

"Police believe this movement involves more than three people and they have a mastermind," he added.

Before his arrest, former policeman Prathin worked as a security guard at the Bank of Thailand's Khon Kaen office. He was arrested at his home in the Northeast province and later brought to Bangkok for questioning.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Border Patrol policeman

Originally Posted by S Landreth

political connections,"

wern't the blue shirts of pattaya fame attacking abhisit mainly composed of border police ?

who was their patron then

Hunt for 7 more

PM denies security threat cooked up to divert public attention from army men's role in the Rajabhakti Park scandal

AFTER THE arrest of two people suspected of involvement in an alleged plot to create unrest and attack government figures, police are hunting for seven more suspects, the national police chief said yesterday.

Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda confirmed that a movement plotting to create unrest really existed and that police were investigating to determine its possible links with other people.

"Anyone found to be involved will be arrested. The police and intelligence units are monitoring the movement. We are going to find those suspects who are still at large," he told a press conference at the Royal Thai Police headquarters.

The two arrested suspects - Pol Sgt-Major Prathin Chanket, who was formerly with the Border Patrol Police, and Nattaphol Nawanlay - were handed over by the military to the police yesterday.

Prathin, 60, who worked as a security guard at the Bank of Thailand's Khon Kaen branch, and Nattaphol, 26, had been involved in a plot called Khon Kaen Model to create unrest following last year's military coup, according to police.

They were initially accused of violating Article 112 of the Penal Code involving lese majeste and the Computer Crime Act.

Police had said they had evidence the suspects were planning to strike in Bangkok during the Bike for Dad cycling event on December 11.

Pol Maj-General Chayapol Chatchaidej, chief of the Crime Division who is part of the investigation team, said yesterday that the suspects were found to be planning violent attacks at some locations with a focus on Bangkok and targeting the country's VIPs.

He said police investigations pointed to the suspects' link with the so-called Khon Kaen Model, under which unrest was planned in the northeastern province last year. He said the group planned to seize many state agencies in the Northeast by force.

Chayapol said nine suspects were in this group. Prathin was a key player in the Khon Kaen Model. And Nattaphol was procuring weapons and sent messages insulting the monarchy through social media, according to the police officer.

A large cache of weapons was found in the house of another suspect who is still on the run, Chayapol said.

On May 23 last year, a few days after the coup, 21 people were arrested in Khon Kaen on suspicion of plotting unrest.

They were found to be in possession of grenades, explosive devices and hundreds of bullets. Among those arrested was Prathin, who was then working for the central bank's local branch. He was found to be connected to the red shirts.

Pol General Sriwara Ransibhram-anakul, deputy national police chief, said yesterday the group had been active for some time and had collected war weapons with the intention of creating unrest in the country. He added that police were hunting for seven other suspects who were still on the run.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday denied that the authorities were playing up this alleged plot in an attempt to divert public attention from a scandal involving the Army's project to construct the Rajabhakti Park in Hua Hin.

In response to the alleged plot targeting government figures, the PM said he would not be scared by such a threat. "I am already risking my life these days," he added.

Prayut also said the threat would not prevent him from visiting the Northeast.

Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday rejected an allegation by government critics that the alleged plot was part of the government's information operation (IO).

"Real or not, the court has already approved the request for arrest warrants. That's because there's evidence. Let's wait for the result of the police investigation," he said.

When asked if he was concerned about his safety, Prawit responded that he had no conflict with anyone and that he was simply serving the country and the people.

The deputy PM said he has instructed police to increase security measures for the Bike for Dad cycling event in which HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn would also take part.

He said the police would work with the military and the National Council for Peace and Order in providing security during the big national event, when hundreds of thousands of cyclists are expected to join throughout the country.

Originally Posted by baldrick

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Border Patrol policeman

Originally Posted by S Landreth

political connections,"

wern't the blue shirts of pattaya fame attacking abhisit mainly composed of border police ?

who was their patron then

I am not sure