Army Colonel linked to kill plot

Police sources declined to identify the colonel, saying only that he was close to an influential Army officer of higher rank, who was a close aide to the leader of a now-defunct political party.

A senior police officer said investigators had yet to work out if the plot was linked to claims that Chanchai, a former head of the Supreme Court, was part of the "elite" who plotted the 2006 coup.

That claim - denied by Privy Councillors - was made at recent red shirt rallies.

Another source said the colonel was implicated by Major Thienchai Mueangchantuek, who allegedly said he was hired as a go-between to procure a team of gunmen.

Thienchai has allegedly said he was paid Bt1.5 million to arrange the killing, plus stage arson attacks on 10 banks and government installations around Bangkok.

Four people have been arrested for the alleged assassination plot attempt - three civilians and Major Thienchai, who has allegedly admitted to attempting to kill Chanchai.

But police say he has refused to say who else was involved or who was the mastermind behind the plot.

Thienchai, currently serving as a librarian attached to the Army headquarters, is reportedly a former NCO officer close to Lt Thawatchai Klinchana. The latter was a suspect in the car-bomb assassination plot before 2006 coup. Police have not obtained clear evidence to indicate any other link between the two murder plots.

Two of the suspects have criminal records. Phanuphong Ratanapaiboon, the allged gunman, completed a 10-year prison term for armed robbery last November.

He worked as a taxi motorcyclist at a queue near Wat Lak Si in northern Bangkok along with Sakchai Sae Lim, the other alleged gunman. Sakchai served has two prison terms for using amphetamines.

The other civilian suspect, Kamit Sukanchanakat, did not have a criminal record, police said.

Police quoted Thienchai as saying he paid Kanit Bt600,000 to contract Phanuphong and Sakchai. Each allegedly got paid Bt140,000.

Pol Lt General Chalong Sonjai, chief of Central Region Bureau 1, said the suspects vaguely implicated a businessman in the North, as well as a civilian working for a private security company owned by a police officer, as part of the team aiming to carry out the murder.

Chalong said police were gathering evidence to determine whether the plot may be linked to recent political claims about Chanchai at recent rallies by red-shirted protesters.