MONK'S MURDER SEEN AS ATTEMPT TO SILENCE ACTIVISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000166

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/1/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TH
SUBJECT: MONK'S MURDER SEEN AS ATTEMPT TO SILENCE ACTIVISM

REF: BANGKOK 5861 (04)

CLASSIFIED BY: Bea Camp, Consul General, Consulate Chiang Mai, State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)



1. (SBU) Summary. The murder of an activist Buddhist monk June
17 in Fang district, Chiang Mai was politically motivated, according to local groups, although police suggest personal conflicts as the cause. Police investigations have so far produced no suspects, despite an initial series of news stories
suggesting arrests were imminent. Non-governmental
organizations (NGOs),concerned that the murder fits a pattern of intimidation against human rights and environmental
activists, have called for assurances of safety. End summary


2. (C) Phra Supot Suwacho, stabbed to death June 17 at Mettatham Buddhist Temple, Fang district, Chiang Mai, was known as an activist whose battles against illegal land encroachment put him in conflict with big agriculture interests in the area.
In the last decade Fang has developed into a major tangerine-producing area with huge plantations using pesticide-heavy farming techniques opposed by environmentalists.
A colleague from the same monastery, Phra Kitisak Kitisophano, said that Phra Supot had also received warnings to stop his website attacks against the government and the Prime Minister.

--Same Old Scenario--


3. (U) Members of the House Environmental Affairs Committee, northern Senators, and a network of monk activists and human rights NGOs have kept attention focused on the still-unsolved murder. A column in the June 29 Bangkok Post compared the murder to that of another activist killed a year ago while fighting against illegal land encroachment (reftel),noting that "the two incidents look as if they were hatched and recycled by
the same script-writer obsessed with one old plot." A group of
activists, including prominent anti-government gadfly Sulak Sivarak, plan to meet in Fang July 1 to further publicize the case.


4. (U) District authorities and the police contend that the murder may be nothing more than an ordinary crime stemming from personal conflicts and have defended their efforts to bring the
culprit to justice. NGOs skeptical of the investigators'
efforts have called for assurances of safety for pro-rights and environment activists in the north. The parents of the slain monk met with parliamentarians June 29 to press for a full investigation, noting that the police probe has yet to produce any results.


5. (SBU) Fang District Officer Siriwut Hemathat and Police Chief Colonel Thanasan Phlai-tho appeared reluctant to discuss the matter at length during separate June 29 phone conversations with Consulate FSN. Both gave two possible motives: an on-the-spot killing precipitated when the monk confronted villagers sneaking into the temple area to cut bamboo or the result of land disputes with local groups interested in grabbing some of the temple's land to expand their ORANGE orchards.
The District Officer claims that the monks' religious practices were not "typical" of other monasteries and that they spent much of their time on computers, an activity not in favor with local
residents. He added that the monks at Mettatham Temple had
earlier incurred local villager enmity by failing to acquiesce to demands to redistribute temple-occupied property to landless locals.

--Police Claim Vigorous Investigation -


6. (SBU) Authorities insist the investigation is being pursued vigorously, citing the participation of the Provincial Police Region 5 Headquarters, Special Branch Police, Forestry Police and the Justice Ministry's Department of Special Investigation (DSI). However, another source reports that the only DSI team to visit Fang accompanied the Justice Minister for PR purposes; no DSI staff has been sent to Fang to help with the investigation.


7. (C) Northern human rights activists, environmentalists, academics and monks gathered June 26 at Chiang Mai's Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University-Wat Suan Dok Campus to discuss the murder. Prominent Wildlife Foundation Thailand activist Nikom Phuttha warned that police might arrest scapegoats rather than the real mastermind, possibly using public pressure for a quick resolution as an excuse to distort the evidence. He told the audience he believed the murder, including the use of an axe-like weapon, was disguised to look like the actions of an ordinary villager rather than a hired professional killer. The goal, he claimed, was to make it seem that the killing was the result of a conflict between an individual monk at Mettatham Temple and local trespassers instead of between the temple and some influential figures.


8. (C) Nikom said police had summoned only four villagers from the community near the temple for questioning. He added that no

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move has been made to question a retired military officer, "Captain Narong", who reportedly earlier tried to force the monks to leave the temple site and attacked one of the abbot's supporters in an apparent attempt at intimidation.

--Killer Tangerines-


9. (C) Nikom and another NGO leader from the Northern Development Foundation, Prayong Doklamyai, characterized Phra Supot's murder as part of a wider conflict arising from the exploitation of increasingly scarce natural resources, especially land and water. This conflict pits large-scale entrepreneurs against medium or small-scale farmers. The latter group is allied with local residents who have been suffering from water shortages as well as from extensive use of toxic chemicals in large tangerine orchards in the three northern
districts of Fang, Mae Ai and Chaiprakan. The pesticides used
are considered so toxic that a grim local joke advises, "If you hate your boss, send him baskets of tangerines."


10. (C) An ongoing campaign against continued expansion of the tangerine orchards and the use of toxic chemicals has attracted support of the local people in the three districts as well as
participation from members of the Mettatham Temple. This
campaign has upset the big tangerine orchard owners and their
allies, influential land interests and politicians. The
reported involvement of the monks at Wat Mettatham in anti-government websites is cited as another way in which Phra Supot developed a powerful set of enemies.


11. (C) Both Nikom and Prayong report that the demand for
large plots of land for tangerine orchard expansion remains high in the three northern districts despite a plunge in tangerine prices caused by Chinese competition. The price drop has hit small and medium-scale tangerine orchard farmers harder than the seven or eight large-scale growers, who enjoy an edge in production and rely more on export markets. The activists warn that this group's increasing influence over local officials threatens anyone standing against their vested interests, as evidenced in several earlier assaults on community leaders who voiced their opposition to forest land encroachment by certain big growers.

--Fruit Launders Money-


12. (C) Suspicions have also been raised that the
profitability of the large orchards is based more on narcotics trafficking and money laundering rather than on fruit exports.
Burmese migrants working in the orchards are seen as likely
couriers in this business. The Office of Narcotics Control
Board (ONCB) confirmed that one of the growers, Banthoon Thirawathanakul or"Peng Hua", is on the ONCB watch list for money laundering activities in connection with drug trafficking
groups. Peng Hua, who has appeared on TV touting his
successful agricultural techniques, has ensured support on the political side via large campaign contributions to the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) MP from Fang, Santi Tansuhas.


13. (C) According to Nikom, tangerine orchards in the three districts currently cover about 200,000 rai, half of which is in government-owned forest land - - acquired both through legal leases and illegal encroachment. As a well-known vocal environmentalist, Nikom reports he has been warned against
showing up in the disputed areas. At the meeting he urged
provincial authorities to curb local influence and address the issue of a fair allocation of water and land resources.


14. (C) Comment: Phra Supot's murder is a sad reminder of the heavy-handed control exercised by big money and big politicians.
Although northern Thailand's fledging civic activists are continuing to draw attention to the case, the threat of a similar fate is obvious to monks at Mettatham monastery, their supporters, and anyone considering an opposition role. As in past cases of this type, the police have hyped their investigative efforts but appear to be stalling for time until public interest wanes.










CAMP