Self-study and classroom lessons based on newspaper feature stories

This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations.

November 25, 2003

Sombre duty

INTRODUCTION

This week’s story is quite unusual. One reason is because it is about a person who had a very rare job. Few others share the same tasks – and no one in this country will ever have the same job again. He was the executioner, the person who was responsible for pulling the trigger to end the lives of serious criminals.

We all probably have a lot of curiosity about such a person. There are many questions we’d like to ask: How can you pull a trigger to kill a person? Do you feel guilty? Do you have bad dreams? Do you think the person deserves to die? What sort of person could do such a job? How can you prepare yourself to kill a person?

With today’s story you have the chance to find answers to those questions. The story is a profile –the type of article that looks at one person to find out about the work he or she does, how they got into that work and what kind of person they are. In this case, the person in focus is Chawalate Jarubun, the man behind the gun.
Getting the image right

In this story you will find many adjectives. Some of them apply to Chawalate Jarubun; some do not. Before you read the story, look at the list below and decide which you think would apply to a person whose job it was to kill criminals. Remember that these are criminals who had been sentenced to death, that is, a court of law had decided these people were so evil and would not change, so they would have to die.

I expect that to be the executioner, Chawalate Jarubun would have to be …

____ sombre: sad and serious
____ gentle: calm and kind; doing things in a quiet and careful way
____ judgemental: ready to decide if a person is good or bad
____ emotional: showing strong emotions
____ cold-blooded: showing no feelings or pity for other people
____ heartless: feeling no pity for other people
____ calm: not excited, nervous or easily upset
____ caring: kind, helpful and showing that you care about other people
____ tough: strong enough to deal successfully with difficult conditions or situations
____ sad: showing unhappiness
____ self-controlled: able to control his own emotions
____ precise: taking care to be exact and accurate

After you have finished reading the story, come back and review your choices. See if you would change any of them after meeting Chawalate.

Chawalate’s employers must have recognised that he had certain qualities that caused them to recommend him for advancement. Which characteristic(s) do you think were important for them? In your opinion, which characteristic(s) were probably most important for the inmates he worked with?

Discuss your ideas with your classmates or study group friends.
Capital punishment

Among your classmates, find out how many are in favour of the death penalty. What crimes do they think deserve death?

The change from death by firing squad to lethal injection puts this country among a growing number that use it as a way of executing criminals. Although no way of putting a person to death is kind, lethal injection is believed to be a more humane method of execution.

If you are interested in finding out how lethal injection works there is good information at the how stuff works website. Look for the link below.

OUR STORY FROM THE BANGKOK POST

In the line of fire
The country's last firing squad executioner is glad to see
the arrival of a more humane method of capital punishment
Story by CHOMPOO TRAKULLERTSATHIEN
Picture by — SOMKID CHAIJITVANIT

Know these words and phrases

humane
showing kindness to people and animals by making sure they do not suffer

capital punishment
punishment by death as decided by the courts of a country

lethal
causing death

injection
an act of forcing liquid into something

obsolete
no longer used because something new has come

custodian
a person who takes responsibility for taking care of or protecting

stereotype
a fixed idea that many people share, but which is often not true

death row
the cells in a prison for prisoners who are waiting to be killed as punishment

sentence
the punishment given by a court of law

repent
to feel and show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you have done

emotionally involved
having developed feelings, positive or negative, about a person or situation

judicial
connected with a court of law,

condemned
those who know that something bad is going to happen to them

vivid
producing very clear pictures in your mind

hesitant
slow to act; unwilling to act quickly

bombarded
attacked with a lot of questions, criticisms, etc.

haunted
being constantly reminded of a bad experience

commit
to do something wrong

refuse
to say that you will not do something that you are supposed to do

make it a point to
to deliberately plan to do something

This past October 19 was an important day for Chawalate Jarubun. That was the day that Thailand introduced lethal injections, making his job obsolete, and making him the country's last firing squad executioner.

Chawalate — a living legend — was more than happy. “I can put the gun down now,” said Chawalate, 55, who has worked as an executioner for more than two decades.

No longer wanting to partake in the sombre duty, he has chosen not to join the lethal injection team. Instead, he will work as a custodian for foreign prisoners.

“I wanted to stop working as an executioner,” the soft-spoken man said. “I've done my duty the best I can, but two decades is enough. Now that the prison has found a new method of execution, I want to stop. I no longer want to take the lives of other people.”

People might think of executioners as cold-blooded and heartless, but that stereotype doesn't fit this soft-spoken former musician.

“During the Vietnam War, I played music in many provinces, including Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani, where there were US military bases. But after I got married I needed a more secure job, so I applied for a job as a prison official,” he recalled. “That was how it all started.”

Chawalate began working at Bang Kwang Central Prison as a guard in 1972. Later he was promoted to custodian of prisoners on death row.

He said executions were carried out quickly after the death sentence had been passed to prevent prisoners from escaping or committing suicide. His former duty was to care for them before they were executed.

“While accompanying them to the execution grounds, I had to keep them calm by talking to them, helping them think about good things or to pray before they left this world. It was a tough job since you had to deal with people who knew they were going to die. Some could not stop crying. Others would talk about their crimes, repenting, but many would continue insisting that they were innocent.”

In their last moments, their thoughts are almost always with their families, he said.

“They were worried about the future of their wives and kids. Many, too, repented their greed, saying that they finally discovered that money was not the way to real happiness. Most wanted to start their life anew, but it was too late.”

Though he was often saddened by their stories, he said his job did not allow him to let himself get emotionally involved.

“I have to respect the judicial process. I couldn't judge as to who was right or wrong. My duty was to try to ease the minds of the condemned, encouraging them to forgive and forget so that they could have peace of mind.”

He performed those duties for five years before being transferred to work on the execution grounds. His new duty was to position the gun so that it accurately targeted the bull's eye sign, which would line up with the prisoner's heart during the execution.

“A minor miscalculation would be an immense mistake, so I had to be absolutely precise.”

Chawalate never thought he would one day be pulling the trigger himself, but in 1977, many of the existing executioners retired, leaving only two behind.

Chawalate was persuaded to join them.

The memory of his first execution is still vivid. “I was excited, tense. When the moment came, I was hesitant. Yet I couldn't back out because everything had already been prepared. So I made myself enter the execution grounds and do my job.”

The first prisoner he shot, he said, was male.

Ever since, Chawalate has been bombarded with the same questions from the curious: Why did he choose this line of work? Was he afraid of being haunted by the prisoners he shot? Did he feel that he was committing sin?

“My answer was always that I was doing my job, just like other people are doing their jobs. Yet my job description is rather different from others. Shooting was part of my responsibilities. The whole process of execution couldn't be carried out if I refused to do my duty.”

He noted that executions did not often take place, sometimes only once in three years.

How did he deal with the tough moment of having to pull the trigger?

“I had to clear my head and focus on what was in front of me. I didn't think about it afterwards. “

Executions are normally performed in the evening. To prepare himself, Chawalate would go home and take a bath while keeping his mind clear. Then he would go to the execution grounds to double check the gun and bullets. To forget the death scene quickly, he would make it a point not to look at the dead body afterward.

“After the execution, I would go out with my friends, dining out or listening to music before going home. I would not let myself think about the execution.

“A former executioner told me that an executioner had to learn to control himself, first and foremost. Then he could control the whole situation. I followed his advice, and it worked well.”

NOTE: Find out how lethal injection works
at the how stuff works website.

• This lesson was prepared by Maureen Paetkau, a professional teacher of English as a second and foreign language and Assistant Manager and Webmaster for Learning Post at the Bangkok Post.

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