Killer of Phang Nga politician arrested

PHANG NGA: Police in Surat Thani on February 15 arrested one of the killers of Phang Nga Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) President Anan “Ko Daeng” Boonrak, who was shot dead in December 2004.

The suspect, 38-year-old Chusak “Muek Chumporn” Numluemkid, was #2 on the Royal Thai Police Crime Suppression Division’s Top 50 Most Wanted Gunmen for 2005. His three accomplices in the assassination remain on the run.

K. Anan was killed as he was driving to his home in Thap Put District, Phang Nga, on the evening of December 23, 2004. He was shot multiple times with both a shotgun and an M-16 assault rifle.

After Chusak was arrested by police from his native Chumpon Province he confessed to the crime, police said.

He was handed over to Phang Nga police for a February 22 reenactment of the crime.

Lt Col Sanya Tongsawas, Investigation Inspector at Thap Put District Police Station, told the Gazette that Chusak said he and three other assassins planned the attack in rooms 204 and 209 of the Phu Nga Hotel in Thap Put. The four of them were each paid 50,000 baht up front for the hit, with the another 50,000 apiece to be paid after the killing was carried out.

Before the attack, the assassins went to Phang Nga Provincial Hall in two pickup trucks, where they waited for K. Anan to leave his office. When he did, they followed K. Anan at high speed in the direction of Thap Put.

About 200 meters from K. Anan’s home, the hit squad pulled alongside his vehicle. Chusak and a fellow gunman, named by police as Prapai Hongtong, opened fire. Prapai let off five shots with a shotgun while Chusak sprayed the car with more than 10 rounds from an M16. K. Anan was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the killing Chusak hid in Phuket, Col Sanya said.

Police are still hunting for the three other assassins and hope to learn who ordered and paid for the assassination, which they believe was politically motivated.

K. Anan was the second President of Phang Nga OrBorJor to be shot dead during a six-month period in 2004. His predecessor, Nithat Siribenjakul, was murdered at Takuapa Bus Station on July 30 that year.

At the time of his arrest, Chusak had two outstanding arrest warrants; one issued by Chumphon Provincial Court in 2002 and the other by Songkhla Provincial Court in 2003. His file with the Crime Suppression Division listed him as a suspect in a “countless” number of cases stretching back more than 10 years.

Of these, police are particularly interested in the shooting of a Mayor of Tha Sala in Nakhon Sri Thammarat Province. Chusak’s weapons of choice were .38 and .357 caliber revolvers.

Chusak was charged with premeditated murder, possession of war weapons without a license, possession of a firearm without a license and carrying a firearm in a public place without permission, Col Sanya said.