From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, Saturday July 19 2008
The family and friends of a young backpacker who was gunned down by a policeman in Thailand have begun a nationwide poster campaign in Canada to demand the killer be brought to court.
Leading the ‘search for justice’ is Ernest Del Pinto, from Calgary, Alberta, whose 25-yr-old son was shot dead by a Thai policeman in the northern Thai village of Pai.
City buses in Calgary are now carrying the posters ‘Canadian Murdered in Thailand. When will be justice be served?’. The campaigners, who are also getting together a petition, plan to take the campaign to buses in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.
The move follows lack of action in Thailand and the exposure by the Thai National Human Rights Commission of a cover up into the ‘murder’ in January this year.
Mr. Del Pinto (below third from left) is also asking Canadians to stay away from Thailand until the matter is resolved.
Leo Del Pinto was shot in the chest and in the head by a Thai policeman in January. A Canadian friend Carly Reisig, 24, from Chilliwack, B.C. was also shot in the chest but she survived.
After the shootings local police chief Colonel Sombat Panya claimed that Canadians had made an unprovoked attack on Police Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat in the northern village of Pai after he broke up a fight between them.
Uthai, he claimed, shot in self defence as he fell to the ground. His automatic had a hair trigger.
However witnesses and forensic evidence revealed by Thailand’s leading pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasund contradicted the police story.
It was Leo who as he fell to the ground. He was shot in the chest and then a second shot was aimed straight at his head as he fell.
Witnesses under protection also said that Sergeant Uthai pistol whipped Ms. Reisig before shooting her under her left breast.
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej ordered the Thai Department of Special Investigation to take up the case four months ago. Thai police are notoriously inefficient in investigating their own officers.
No policeman has yet to be prosecuted in connection with a government drugs war in Thailand which began in 2003 during which over 2,000 were killed, killed mainly, say human rights organisations, by policemen.
Family spokesman Ross Fortune said: “The officer concerned is still free and walking the streets and drinking in the bars. Is it not right for the family to feel upset?”
In Bangkok Kamol Kamultrakul of the Thai Human Rights Commission said: “We will be in touch with the DSI to discuss progress.”
Four years ago British backpackers Vanessa Arscott, 23, and Adam Lloyd, 24, from Devon, were gunned down by a Thai policeman in Kanchanaburi on the River Kwai.
Local witnesses to the shooting were scared to give evidence against the policeman, Sergeant Somchai Wisetsingh. But he was convicted and jailed primarily on forensic evidence.
Welcome to Thailand! The Land of Corruption and Gun Toting Police. Holiday here and there will always be risks and dangers. Stay away from the police. They’re always trying to make money out of foreigners and definately don’t upset them! They wouldn’t think twice about shooting u. Behave yourself and be respectful to all officers of the law if u do come here on holiday. Sounds like these Canadians were drunk and fighting in public. Not very sensible behaviour… especially in Thailand!
Iam living in Thailand from 1993 , I am married with a Thai and we has a little son , the police in Thailand is highly corrup…everythings wrote “sky high si” is the pure true ! Often i saw the policemen drunk , they can do anythings they want if u upset them or just argue ! My wife has a bachelor degree and she is a teacher in a local school , a saturday night we went out to dine in the house of our friend and once we came back home we discovery that the thief visited our villa ! we call the police and once they came instead to look at the fingerprint (we belived that the thief were our neighbourne and they came from the roof )they start to asking why we came back home at 1 am and if my wife “work” at night ! once they saw the frame with the King of Thailand giving the bachelor degree to my wife they start to change their behaviour! I can go on and on to write about how ignorant , raccist , corrupt , uneducated ,lier,blackguard they are !Just click on google gary poredsky and the sentence that was gave to his murder 4 understand how corrupt is the sistem here !
Thailand is not as Welcome country as tourist think. The Policemen in thailand are Goons and linked with Mafia’s. Not only Policemen but Thailand Governments are Corrupted. Nowadays, Money Talks.
Thailand is still a wonderful country. I lived there for 6 years and had many interactions with the police. If you are not causing trouble and remain calm and friendly, you will not have trouble.
Yes, the police are corrupt and so is the government, but most of the trouble I saw foreigners get into was mostly their fault, being angry and violent and demanding their ‘rights’ as if they were in their home country. Thailand is not your home country if you are a foreigner, get a clue. You cannot be so arrogant and pushy, especially with the police.
This is a very sad story, and I have no idea who was at fault. But neither myself or any of my friends have EVER had such trouble, even when we broke the law, because we remained calm and cooperated. Too many foreigners think they can do whatever they want in Thailand and totally disrespect Thais and the Thai authorities, with disastrous results.
i was born in thailand , my mother is thai and my father is english
i can speak thai fluent and i know everyhink about the thai police
1) thai police earn about 6,000 bhat for 1 month , thats less than a rice farmer and far less than a young boy muay thai fighter
2) because they dont have enough money to feed there family they can make more money from tourist , protecting shops and yes corruption
3)all thai policeman love thailand and will do anythink to protect the king and country , in thailand a drug dealer is treated as a murderer as he or she kills familys , so therefore they are killed by the bullet or by leathel inection
4)when a farang (westerner) goes to the rural areas ( rice fields ) of thailand , you should rember that there is no tourist attraction there and alot of people there live below the poverty line , most people have never never wedterners before , but most murders have when a crazy person is involed , have crazy people all over the world
5)thai police will on only shoot if you have a weapon or you use force against them , speak slow and claim ( learn alittle thai before you travel ( most thai police cannot speak english ( only tourist police , if you ride a motorbike with no helmet well you will be fined its not corrupt its the law .
As Thailand is a corrupted Democratic country, which its citizens has no equal rights, people will do anythings as their own please. All Thai government branches, Justice, Law enforcement, include Dpt.of transportation, Land registry, and all Business chambers require corrupted money from its own rich and poor citizens,and foreigners. Doing any traveling or business with Thailand is always at full risks.
Hockaday, Bill