THE KILLERS REMAIN AT LARGE

No one knows how many names were on the blacklists of suspected drug users
and dealers that formed the basis of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's
war on drugs. No one knows exactly how many were killed since the "war" was
launched on February 1 last year.

National Police Chief General Sant Sarutanond counted about 2,590 but said
about 1,300 deaths were associated with non-drug-related crimes. Most of
the remainder, police say, were what they call "silencing killings" - the
killing of one drug dealer by another trying to hide his or her identity.

Police and the government that ordered the offensive have denied
responsibility for the "silencing killings", and it is true that the
murders differ from extra-judicial killings of the past.

They have taken place across the country, often in public places, sometimes
in front of crowds - in local markets, hospitals, restaurants, shops and on
the street - often in broad daylight.

And yet, in almost all the cases investigators have done little more than
interview the relatives of those killed.

Deadly waiting room

"Crimes are committed every day and criminals don't wait around for the
police," explains Police Colonel Manoj Joradol, an investigator at Lat Yao
police station in Nakhon Sawan province. "It isn't easy to find them."

Last April, two villagers from his district were shot dead at Paknam Pho
Hospital.

Suraphong Moopayak and his wife "Pia" were on the district's blacklist of
drug dealers. Manoj admitted that authorities had been keeping an eye on
the husband and wife for some time.

"I went to search their house with an arrest warrant many times, but they
always managed to flee before I arrived," Manoj said.

The murders of Suraphong and Pia didn't take place in his jurisdiction, he
says. The day after the murder, Manoj went to their house again. This time
the police also had a warrant allowing them to seize assets issued by the
Nakhon Sawan provincial court.

Authorities, however, doubt that the couple's assets came from illicit
drugs. They owned a petrol station, land and several businesses including
one selling construction materials.

On April 20 Suraphong drove Pia to see a doctor at Paknam Pho Hospital. He
dropped Pia and their daughter "Kathaleeya" in front of the hospital, then
drove around looking for a parking spot.

It was the last thing either of them did. Suraphong was shot dead by
several gunmen in the hospital parking lot, while another group of killers
gunned down Pia in the waiting room. She had been queuing to see a doctor.

Paknam Pho Hospital is under the jurisdiction of Muang district police
station and Major Songphol Summin was assigned to investigate the very
public double homicide.

"In the past 10 months I have interrogated six witnesses, but their
testimony has not been useful," Songphol says.

Only Kathaleeya, their daughter, can remember the faces of those who killed
her mother. "We made sketches of the murderers of Pia from Kathaleeya's
recollection," Songphol says.

But even with the sketches, Songphol says he has no confidence that the
murderers will be caught. Lat Yao police were quick to send him information
on the victims' background and the couple's 19-year-old son told Songphol
he was convinced that his parents were murdered by the police.

"There isn't enough evidence to find a clear motive for the murder. I can't
conclude whether the case is a 'silencing killing' or not," Songphol says.

"We must accept that whether we manage to catch the killers or not depends
on timing and luck," he adds.

His report is almost finished and will be presented to the attorney
general. "I will report that the investigation of this case is ongoing," he
says.

Fatal phone calls

In Lampang's Mae Moe district, Major Nawin Sitthithienchai is trying to
complete his report into the murder of Anuthin Kaewmala, the chairman of
Sob Paad Tambon Administration Organisation (TAO).

Before he was murdered, Anuthin had been urged to resign from the TAO
because his name had appeared on the blacklist of drug dealers. He refused.
He admitted that he had once been a drug user, but said he had quit.

On February 19 Anuthin received a phone call that would prove fatal. It was
after work and he was in a restaurant dining with friends, just a few steps
away from the provincial office.

His friends say that he rushed out of restaurant as soon as he finished the
call. What happened next is unclear. A witness said they saw him stop his
pickup to talk to a man on the side of the road.

Minutes later he sped off, driving erratically before crashing into another
car. He had been shot twice and died from the wounds.

Major Nawin says his investigation has turned up no traces of the murderer,
even at the scene of the crime.

"No one witnessed the incident and we couldn't find bullet shells," he said.

When asked why he didn't try to trace the phone call, Nawin said the dead
man's mobile phone had disappeared from the scene.

Police did, however, find drugs. Nawin says he found six methamphetamine
pills in Anuthin's pickup.

This, he concluded, was evidence that Nawin's murder was a "silencing killing".

Nawin's report on the murder includes the testimony of five people close to
Anuthin.

"The investigation focused on his behaviour. He had been involved in
illicit drugs since 2000. We have evidence," Nawin says. He has a year to
conclude his report and forward it to the attorney general.

"I will propose [to the attorney general] to stop the investigation of this
case until we find new evidence," Nawin said.

"Twenty years isn't too long," he adds, referring to the deadline for
laying charges in a murder case.

Rival explanations

The mayor of Loei's Phu Kradueng municipality, Chaiya Chantanam, was
murdered at his home on May 6.

A little more than a month before his death, on March 31, police officers
had visited Chaiya's house and shown him an arrest warrant issued by Loei
provincial court. Chaiya had been accused of involvement in the drug trade.
Even though police failed to find a single methamphetamine pill during
their search, Anuthin was arrested and his assets seized.

The mayor was released on bail a day later and was due in court on May 7,
the day after his murder.

After interviewing 11 witnesses, the investigation team led by Colonel
Vichien Pinduang told the National Human Rights Commission that evidence
against Chaiya was weak and that - had he survived long enough to get his
case before a court - he would likely have been found "not guilty".

Investigators, however, found no trace of the murderer.

Phu Kradueng district's Drugs War Operation Centre sent a letter on January
19, 2004 to the rights commission to say that Chaiya wasn't on its blacklist.

"But public complaints and the report from the secret police investigation,
as well as [Chaiya's] unusual wealth suggested that he was involved in
illegal business or illicit drugs," the letter read.

The rights commission found that most "evidence" against the mayor was in
the form of leaflets and secret letters accusing him of being a drug
dealer. Chaiya's wife and neighbours believe the leaflets were distributed
by Chaiya's political rivals.

At Chaiya's funeral rites, 60 men underwent ordination to show respect for
someone they believed to be a decent man.

Shooting at the sky

The death of nine-year-old Chakrapan Srisa-ard or "Fluke" shocked the
country. It happened in central of Bangkok in front of hundreds of people
on February 23 last year. The boy was in a car with his mother with a
police car chasing them. Police opened fire. In a hail of bullets, two hit
the boy.

Chakrapan's parents were on a blacklist of drug dealers. The boy's father
had been arrested just a few minutes before. His mother sped off when the
arrest occurred. The officers who pursued her said they had been shooting
at the sky, not the car. They claimed the bullets that killed the boy were
fired by another person or people also pursuing the car. A drug dealer or
dealers joined their pursuit of the woman, aiming to kill her before they
caught her, police claimed. The woman escaped, leaving her dead son behind.

Police took eight months to complete their investigation into the killing.

The bullets found in the car and in the boy's body weren't fired by police,
the report concluded. The police were "innocent" of extra-judicial killing.

The killer(s) remain at large.

'Society needs to know who the murderers are'

National Human Rights Commissioner Vasant Panich says the Royal Thai Police
must make public their progress - if any - in investigations into
"silencing killings". In cases where little progress has been made the
police must explain why, Vasant says.

"From looking into the 30 cases related to complaints filed to me, little
progress has been achieved in finding the murderers," he says.

"Society needs to know who the murderers are."