Weapons caches with M79 grenades & AK-47s common

26 พฤษภาคม 2557

Pre-coup arms crackdown reveals countrywide weapons caches commonplace. Raids made in Samut Sakhon, Lop Buri & Bangkok.

One of the weapons caches seized by army and police last week.

CRIME

Police make secret weapons public knowledge

The pre-coup crackdown on illegal arms reveals countrywide arms caches are commonplace, with hauls of AK-47s and M79 grenades even being used to justify the military coup

26/05/2014

Wassayos Ngamkham

On Wednesday, one day before the military coup was announced, a team of army and police officers launched a series of crackdowns against arms possession aimed at preventing counter-coup fighting.

The crackdown occurred on Wednesday when the combined police and military forces staged raids on sites in Samut Sakhon, Lop Buri, and Bangkok, where they seized a large amount of weapons and explosives.

The first raid was made on an apartment in Krathum Baen district of Samut Sakhon after reports were received it was being used to store firearms.

The authorities seized an AK-47 assault rifle, shotguns, an M79 launcher, eight grenades and identity cards (ID cards) belonging to red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) guards.

About a thousand bullets of various calibres were also confiscated.

A woman identified as Chanthana Warakornskulkij, 44, from Nakhon Ratchasima, who lived in the apartment was arrested and charged with illegal possession of weapons.

The second raid targeted a house in Lop Buri and seized a number of war weapons and explosives.

The house owner was a former military ranger, Chaowat Thongphueak, 54, who was also arrested.

Meanwhile the third arms seizure was made at a vacant house in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district after homeowner Kiettipong Supapwai, 46, informed police that his house had been broken into.

After inspecting the house, police found 140 rounds of ammunition for an M-16 assault rifle and two dummy grenades inside a storeroom, which appeared to have been ransacked.

On the same night, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police also arrested Prasert Daosuk, 56, from Pratum Thani province and seized an AK-47 and 30 bullets from his bag while he was staying on Utthayan road near the UDD demonstration site.

The police said the largest haul of the crackdown was found at Ms Chanthana’s apartment.

They alleged that she and other red shirts had purchased and stored the firearms in case of a military coup.

A source said that hardcore red shirts placed on soldier’s danger lists can be divided into two groups.

The first comprises red-shirts, including civillians, police and retired soldiers who are manipulated by UDD leaders.

The second comprises red-shirt loyalists like Ms Chanthana, who work independently.

Ms Chanthanna allegedly confessed that she and other hardcore red shirts had bought and collected firearms one after the other over a long period of time.

The police said there are underground arms markets located at Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district, where weapons are smuggled from Cambodia.

Another arms market is in Tak’s Mae Sot border district opposite Myanmar.

According to police, the price of a standard rifle is about 15,000 baht each. An AK-47 or an M16 automatic rifle cost about 25,000-30,000 baht each.

“The seized weapons have been sent to the Office of Forensic Science. They are being examined to see whether they have links to arms traffickers, or whether they relate to security guards of anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee or the UDD,” a CSD source said.

Police said suspects who were arrested following the arms crackdown are under investigation.

The seizures have been cited as reasons that justify the coup, bringing the focus onto ending violence and arms attacks.

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