Laos upset at series of 'dissident' killings
Vientiane yesterday questioned the existence of Lao dissidents in Thailand after a series of murders of people linked to the raid on the southern customs checkpoint Vang Tao six years ago.
The two governments had agreed not to allow any anti-government figures to use their respective territories, but "why have so many so-called Lao dissidents been killed in Thailand", queried the Lao ambassador to Thailand, Hiem Phommachanh. "It's against the spirit of the agreement which the two countries have signed for years," he said. He urged Thai authorities to clarify the incident and reiterate their policy toward dissident groups. On Tuesday night, a man alleged to be a Lao dissident was shot dead in his house in Ubon Ratchathani. Judging from his faded identity card, Paitoon Malavan was an ex-soldier in the Lao Royal Army, the force loyal to the regime running the country before the fall of Vientiane in 1975, police in Ubon's Sirindhorn district said. Paitoon, 61, was a close associate of Sisouk Sayaseng, a suspected leader of the attack on the Vang Tao checkpoint. Sisouk was shot dead by two masked men at his home in Ubon's Sirindhorn district in 2003. Paitoon was allegedly part of the storming of the checkpoint and narrowly escaped return fire with a group of 29 who were arrested after they retreated into Thailand. On May 11, Sukan Techakampu, a captain in the former Lao regime, and his wife Chantorn were killed in Ubon. Sukan was also a close friend of Sisouk. Last week police arrested two suspects in connection with Sukan's murder and accused them of being involved in the assassination of Lao-American social activists Anouvong and Oulayvanh Sethathirath in Nong Khai on January 18. The couple, from North Carolina, claimed to be descendants of a Lao king. Police said the two gunmen had been hired to kill all Lao dissidents in the Kingdom and had murdered 17 people so far. Questions have also been raised about dissidence in Laos. Lao authorities reacted angrily after the United States Embassy in Vientiane alleged the Lao army suppressed ethnic Hmong dissidents. The Lao Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned US Ambassador Patricia Haslach to protest strongly at a statement made by the diplomat over a crackdown on Hmong in Vang Vieng. "The Lao government and armed forces have no policy to kill their own citizens," a statement issued yesterday by the Foreign Ministry in Vientiane said. Supalak Ganjanakhundee The Nation
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