Court rules boy, 14, was killed by military gunshot

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2010 CRACKDOWN

Court rules boy, 14, was killed by military gunshot

Published: 21 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

A 14-year-old boy who died during the 2010 political violence was killed by a military gunshot, the Criminal Court ruled yesterday.

Soldiers walk past the body of a protester killed during the 2010 in street violence. (AFP photo)

Khunakorn Srisuwan, also known as Isa (Jesus), was shot in the back on Mor Leng Road in front of the OA movie theatre about 20 metres off Ratchaprarop Road early on May 15, 2010.

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phetpeter
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Discussion 12 : 21 Dec 2012 at 08.3212
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The court are assuming wild gun fire, Anyone with miltary training, could point out the not all bullets(M16) follow a direct path and will bounce off course on impact! They state a fragment of a bullet was found in his wound. Possible the bullet breaks up on impact and fly off in any direction. Bangkok was under a state of emergency and they were told to leave the area, and the van driver continued to approch the army....What did they think would happen? The boy had attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, he didn't like to do as he was told, and was there from choice refusing to do as he was told, as do a lot of teenagers to some degree.
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pjt
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Discussion 11 : 21 Dec 2012 at 08.2311
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D7@facts-only. In my understanding at this stage the Criminal court is more like a post mortem which determines how someone died. It does not seem to get into the question of appropriateness of the action. I have yet to see a report from any of these cases which recommends action against anyone. It seems that step lies with the DSI or police and prosecutors to decide if there is a case to be prosecuted. Thus far no soldiers or officers have been prosecuted, but it is not clear if this is just timing or because their actions did 'not exceed the reasonability or necessity of the circumstances' as require for immunity under the SoE
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peterd
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Discussion 10 : 21 Dec 2012 at 08.2110
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#1, "he ran the blockade" so he has to die, tell you. The dogmatism and the cynism does not permit all and reading you, i know why i choose the other camp. Fortunately, when the Yellow-shirts ran the blockade some week ago, the police didn't apply your philosophy against the protesters. Can you remember that we are an Humanity, not a Deshumanity.
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brilliant
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Discussion 9 : 21 Dec 2012 at 08.099
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JP - you need to reread my statement. If anything, what I said was the polar opposite of being insular to Thai law.
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djay
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Discussion 8 : 21 Dec 2012 at 08.038
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Let's see, you put a bunch of young men (kids) who are being trained to kill (infantry and artillery) into a situation such as this was, where tensions are high and a van is driving at them. Orders are being shouted at the soldiers, and anyone wonders why these things happened.
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facts_only
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Discussion 7 : 21 Dec 2012 at 07.517
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brilliant 1, "The above excerpt from the article clearly defines the responsibility with the van driver...threatened soldiers and caused the gunfire"
The article did not say whether the van was going 5mph near soldiers, or 50mph directly towards soldiers, or other specifics. The Criminal Court determined the shots fired were from soldiers, but it did not rule whether the soldiers' response was appropriate or not.
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whatajoke
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Discussion 6 : 21 Dec 2012 at 07.166
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I think, if this process is done properly, it will emerge that the soldiers killed most of the 91 dead. That's not going to be a very flattering indictment on the army, but it was afterall a State of Emergency. Perhaps they were a bit trigger happy, or inexperienced with minimising casualties but it should not exclude the overall circumstances that the protest should never have lasted 6 weeks, escalated to violent clashes nor included armed militia. We should also try to conclude, with certainty, that there wasn't a hidden UDD agenda to cause casualties. That this case was an ADD orphan is irrelevant and an irresponsible use of sensationalism
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brilliant
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Discussion 5 : 21 Dec 2012 at 07.155
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kenny - have you ever had a van coming at you in basically a war zone at speed refusing to stop? If not, your criticism of the accuracy of the soldiers fire is a little unwarranted and unfair.
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JP

Discussion 4 : 21 Dec 2012 at 07.054
... #diss 1. You need to read up on world history and stop being so insular to the law of Thailand with regards to military action. The whole world was watching through media outlets. Great marketing campaign wouldn't you say.
from iPhone application.
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oldairman
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Discussion 3 : 21 Dec 2012 at 06.343
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D1 I agree 100%. if the van driver has not been there or if he had stopped when ordered to do so the the military would not have opened fire and there would have been no problem.
The military had no idea of who or what was in the van. It could have been anything, a bomb, fuel containers, gas bottles, food, laundry or any of a hundred things.
The soldiers were defending themselves. What would the courts have said if the soldiers didn't open fire and a bomb had exploded killing and wounding many of them as well as innocent civilians? Nothing at all and the driver would have been a red shirt martyr.
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Court rules boy, 14, was killed by military gunshot | Bangkok Post: news