COMMENTARY
VASANA CHINVARAKORN
Both are the victims of the legal system. But their turns of fate are poignantly different and yet closely inter-related.
The Department of Special Investigation's (DSI) former chief Sunai Manomai-udom may not have heard of Mrs Kham Lao-wan's name - the ethnic Shan woman faced an arrest warrant and was thrown into jail for an odd "crime" no one but the police wanted to pursue. Unlike Mr Sunai's much publicised case, which led to the speedy revocation of the warrant last week, Mrs Kham lacks the legal know-how to defend herself. Thus she has been languishing in the border town jail of Fang since April 4.
The two incidents epitomised the return to power of the police force - and the twisted and arbitrary use of the law by men in uniform. They also reflect the dismal gap in how ordinary citizens in Thai society are treated depending on their social class and background.
As a former senior judge, Mr Sunai could tell the police of Wang Noi station, according to a letter cited by his lawyer, that they were not "authorised" to arrest him as he had not broken any law.
In contrast, Mrs Kham, a farm worker formerly with the Metta Dharma Raksa forest monastery, had to consent to have her fingertips printed on "testimony" written by the police and which she cannot read.
The "crime" Mrs Kham is accused of having committed is arson - on her own lodgings located in the remote monastery in Fang valley. Three years ago, about two weeks after she had discovered the slain body of Phra Supoj Suwajo, one of the resident monks, her house mysteriously went up in flames. Shortly afterwards, the other monks and lay members helped build a new shack for the poor woman.
Life continued more or less the same. The Shan villager was considered by the Metta Dharma Raksa members to be a hard-working helper, and despite the lack of an ID card, she was accepted as one of their own.
Meanwhile, Phra Supoj's friends and family have become increasingly frustrated by the extremely slow and dubious work of the police in identifying the murderer(s). Citing some evidence that suggests certain local officers may have been involved, they finally managed to have the DSI take over the investigation.
One year passed. Then the second year. Every June 17 (the day Phra Supoj was found in a pool of blood) the Metta Dharma Raksa group organises a commemorative ceremony for the deceased. And with the associates of other murder victims like Charoen Wat-aksorn (who was gunned down on June 20, a year before Phra Supoj) and the missing Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, they would take the opportunity to criticise the government's ineptitude in handling the cases.
Following the relentless pursuit by Charoen's folks at Bo Nok, two gunmen were finally arrested but have since passed away while in detention. Although they were believed to be only hired hands, there has been no attempt by the authorities to search further for the mastermind. And you know that in the case of lawyer Somchai, well, he is still labelled as having gone "missing".
The most ridiculous aftermath may be Phra Supoj's case. Phra Kittisak Kittisophano, his close friend, shared how the investigators conspicuously refused to call the deceased monk's friends and family in to testify as witnesses. After repeated public calls, the police finally notified them to sign their names for acknowledgement. Still, for the last three years, the officers have not been able to determine the suspects nor the motive for the murder. Except to arrest Mrs Kham - on a charge of arson.
Ironically, Phra Kittisak said he did not file a single complaint with the police despite the fact that the fire took place on property under his care. Efforts to seek bail, and to stop the provincial prosecutor from filing a lawsuit against his former employee, have fallen on deaf ears. The only thing the monk and his lay friends can do is publicise the case and provide some support for Mrs Kham and her family.
One paradox of it all is that during Mr Sunai's term heading the DSI (terminated following the arrival of the Samak administration), Phra Kittisak said he started to have hope for a better inquiry process. Former judge Sunai, noted the monk, took a great interest in reviving the case and thoughtfully ordered the investigators to drop some irreverent attempts to link the monk's murder to personal conflicts of interest and sexual misconduct.
Alas, now we have a regime under which the simple idea of justice seems out of reach for people like Mrs Kham.
Vasana Chinvarakorn is a senior writer for Outlook, Bangkok Post.
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