Acting Highway police commander Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Pankeaw has lost two of his officers in less than a week.

The first, Pol Maj Sivakorn Saibua, was killed in a shooting at the house of an influential sub-district head in Nakhon Pathom province last Wednesday.

Five days later, Pol Col Wachira Yaothaisong, the immediate boss of Sivakorn, killed himself out of guilt, believing that that he was the reason Sivakorn had been murdered.

Jaroonkiat said he had kept Pol Col Wachira under surveillance by putting him in a hotel room with an officer on guard on Sunday night.

He had decided to do so after seeing that Wachira was under stress and kept saying that he was the reason Sivakorn had been killed. Wachira blamed himself because he was the one who persuaded Sivakorn to attend the dinner party.

Jaroonkiat’s attempt to calm Wachira failed and he escaped from the room, went to his residence in Pathum Thani province and took his own life.

“The officer guarding the room left when he saw Wachira fell asleep. We could not find him when we went to the hotel on Monday morning. CCTV footage shows that he escaped through a fire exit early in the morning,” he said.

Video footage also shows that he arrived at his house by taxi and climbed into his house compound. A medical examiner stated that Wachira committed suicide about 5am.

Wachira was among scores of police attending the dinner party and who are now being investigated in connection with the death of Sivakorn, including for helping Praween Chanklai, aka “Kamnan Nok” escape and tampering with evidence.

Wachira was among a group of officers who rushed Sivakorn to hospital, where he died. Reports said he was shot seven times.

Jaroonkiat told reporters earlier that he was also at the hospital. Before Sivakorn succumbed to his injuries, he put his hand on Sivakorn’s head, saying that he will certainly get justice for him.

Marisa Chimprabha