The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) announced today a decision to indict eight suspects, including six army officers and two civilians, on manslaughter charges over their role in the 2004 transportation of protesters from Tak Bai district in Narathiwat to the Inkayut army barracks in Nong Chik district of Pattani, which resulted in the deaths by suffocation of 78 Thai-Muslim protesters.
The tragic incident, known as the Tak Bai massacre, dates back to a protest in front of the Tak Bai police station on October 25th, 2004, by about 300 Malay Muslim protesters, demanding the unconditional release of six defence volunteers detained on charges of giving false statements about their missing weapons, allegedly surrendered to insurgents.
More protesters joined the protest, which eventually turned violent when security forces, under the command of Lt-Gen Pisan Wattanawongkiri, the then commander of the 4th Army Region, ordered the crowd to disperse.
Those facing indictment are then Maj Gen Chalermchai Viroonpetch, Sub-Lt Natthawut Loemsai, Wissanu Lertsonkhram, Lt Wissanukorn Chaisarn, Piti Yankaew, Sgt Maj Rattanadet Srisuwan, Lt-Col Prasert Mutmin and Lt Rithirong Promrith. Six of the suspects were truck drivers.
The OAG ruled, based on the evidence gathered during the police investigation, that while the eight suspects had not intended to cause the deaths, they should have realised that the use of only 25 trucks to carry more than 1,000 protesters was not proportionate and could result in overcrowding resulting in death and injury.
According to the charge sheet, about 50 people were packed into each truck and it took about two hours to travel from Tak Bai district to the army barracks.
The OAG has asked the Royal Thai Police to summon the eight suspects to acknowledge the charges and to bring them to the prosecutors’ office in Pattani to be arraigned before the provincial court.
This case is the second related to the Tak Bai massacre. In the first, seven individuals, including Lt-Gen Pisan Wattanawongkiri, were indicated in the Narathiwat provincial court for alleged involvement in the deadly crackdown on protesters.
Six of the suspects failed to show up before the court on September 12th and arrest warrants have been issued.
