A Secret History of the Bangkok Hilton (4 page)

Not every prisoner would be granted a pardon if his petition reached the king; any good deeds performed and the time served in jail would be taken into consideration as well. Ten years in jail made Ai Tim eligible for consideration for a royal pardon. After verifying Ai Tim’s words, at the next meeting, His Majesty was presented with one of his pieces of rattan handicraft. His Majesty took a look at the meticulous work and said, ‘He spoke the truth. I shall make him see the result of being truthful.’

Ai Tim was released and ordained at the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok. In 1893, at the time of a dispute between France and Siam, Phra (monk) Tim expressed his intention to leave the temple in order to volunteer to fight against the French to repay His Majesty’s kindness. He said when he was young he had learnt some magic that could be useful against the French and, if he survived the war, he would resume his monastic life.

His Majesty was pleased to hear of Ai Tim’s offer but turned him down and told him to continue his monastic life instead, as he was too old for warfare. Ai Tim returned to his temple and died several years later as a monk.

In 1896, King Chulalongkorn granted the metropolitan court and provincial courts the power to put limits on sentences. He also entrusted Prince Rabi to work on older cases where a prison term had yet to be specified.

In terms of prison management, King Chulalongkorn assigned an official to survey prisons and hospitals in Singapore, which was a British colony at the time. This led to the construction of the Kong Mahantatot Prison on Mahachai Road in Bangkok by a British contractor. This was the first modern prison. It had a kitchen, four buildings for holding prisoners and seven towers on its walls. The prisoners were transferred to this new prison on 28 July 1891 after ten Buddhist monks had chanted blessings, performed rituals and thrown holy water and sand around the walls to ward off any illnesses.

Overcrowding was a problem, as mentioned by Momchao Sa-nga Ngam (Momchao is a title given to a king’s grandchild) in a report on a prison named Taranglahutot, in Bangkok, dated April 29, 1893. At that time, the prison held inmates who had been sentenced to less than six months and those awaiting trial. It had seventeen cells for male and female inmates. Two of them held 205 female inmates in total while the rest were supposedly built to hold 120 men each, though there were 2,019 male inmates in total. This means the number of the male inmates exceeded the prison’s capacity by 219 and more were being sent from the courts. Some prisoners were asked to sleep on the brick floors in the halls in front of their cells.

Overcrowding remains a problem in Thai prisons. The Bangkok Hilton holds the record, as it once housed almost 8,000 inmates when its actual capacity was half that number. In recent years, the inmates have been sent out to other major prisons to reduce overcrowding.

King Chulalongkorn declared that as the country had become increasingly progressive, the unsightly prisons should be located outside Bangkok. So a large plot of land on the east side of the Chao Phraya River in Nonthaburi province was purchased with the intention of building a new facility. A law school and the city hall of Nonthaburi were built on the land later, however, leaving not enough space for a prison.

After additional land had been purchased, in the reign of King Rama VII, the first phase of the construction of what was later dubbed the Bangkok Hilton began in 1927, with the aim of establishing Thailand’s first maximum-security prison.

A Frenchman named Charles was the architect of this project. His design was based on European and American prisons and includes a 30-metre-high tower that allows guards to oversee all activities on the prison grounds. Four years later, in July 1931, prisoners from Kong Mahantatot in Bangkok were transferred to this new prison.

Originally Bang Kwang was for prisoners sentenced to more than 10 years in jail or to death. Now it holds prisoners sentenced to more than thirty years in jail from every corner of the country. It has long been notorious for holding the worst offenders in Thailand.

Chapter 3

Introducing Lethal Injections

One of earliest accounts of capital punishment appears in an Ayutthayan law code issued in 1435. It lists the 21 horrific forms of death penalty handed down to the perpetrators of such serious crimes as rebellion, killing of monks or teachers, parenticide, vandalising of images of Buddha, abducting and dismembering an infant in order to remove accessories from its body. These included being eaten alive by starving dogs, getting cut to death little by little, having heated metal dropped onto their exposed brains, or having their skin peeled off from neck to waist in vertical strips that were left to drape over the lower halves of their bodies. Given the unfathomable amount of pain, it is highly unlikely that anyone could survive these barbaric retributions.

Following a homicide, the convict would be brought before the head of the victim’s family, who had a say in whether he should be killed or not, though the authority to order capital punishment belonged to the king alone. Sometimes, the victim’s family forgave the murderer and asked him to become a monk for the rest of his life to make merit on behalf of the dead person.

In 1908, decapitation by sword was officially declared the only form of capital punishment acceptable under Thai law. It usually took place within the holy precincts of a Buddhist monastery in front of an audience. The public beheading served to discourage others from wrongdoing. Some accounts say cemeteries were used as execution venues too.

The beheadings involved a series of steps, all with their own rituals and superstition. It also required special equipment. At that time, the shackles put on convicts’ legs had no locks. So a postmortem knife, which was like a butcher’s knife, was used specifically to cut the heels off the feet of the headless corpses so the irons could be removed. This knife became obsolete after removable shackles were introduced in 1894. A second knife, called mitmo (sorcerer’s magic knife), was believed to be infused with occult power. It was used solely to cut the yarn that designated the area reserved for the execution.

There are three known types of execution sword. They were made by the execution master, who decided which one to use on a case by case basis.

A wooden cross was fixed firmly into the ground. The master executioner made a hole in the ground, called Phra Mae Thorani (earth personified as female deity) next to it and asked from her forgiveness for the transgression that was about to transpire—spilling blood over her. The master then wrote in occult script on the ground at the cross, marking the spot where the convict would sit, and placed a banana leaf over it.

The convict sat with his back to the cross and his legs extended forward. He was secured there with white string. He put his hands together in the prayer position with flowers between his palms. Mud was used to cover his ears and mouth, and to mark the spot on his neck where the sword would cut through.

Before and after every beheading, the executioner’s team sprinkled their bodies with holy water to repel angry spirits of decapitated convicts who might try to harm or possess them. Red flags were stuck in the ground to mark the execution area and those who weren’t involved in the act weren’t allowed to enter. Convicts would be taken out of the prison in the early hours of the morning and transferred to the execution venue by boat.

A makeshift altar, which looked like a split-level table, was erected. The higher level was for the offerings and the lower level was for the swords and knives. A big ornate brass tray, for example, was filled such offerings as a pig’s head and a fish. The master executioner performed a ritual to pay his respects to the spirits and higher beings, inviting them all to preside over the proceedings. Then the primary and secondary executioners joined him in more rituals. The master then anointed them with sacred flour on their foreheads before handing them the blessed swords. The executioners paid their respects to their teachers and deities they held in high regard, to gain moral support before proceeding. The convict was then offered his last meal.

The executioners wore special red outfits, which were designed to conform with superstition. Their uniforms consisted of a vest, a waist sash, knee-length shorts and a garland of yarn for the head. Occult symbols on these items were believed to imbue them with power. They served the same purpose as holy water: protecting the executioners from the vengeful spirits of the beheaded.

Branches were gathered to make an arch called pratu pee (ghost door), which served as entrance to and exit from the site of the decapitation for the executioners. It was destroyed immediately afterwards to prevent the spirits of the decapitated from returning to their homes or following the executioners to harm.

Before the beheading, the team would stay within a sacred circle marked with white yarn called saisin. The primary executioner put holy water in a big bowl behind the condemned while the secondary executioner sat in front. A band played the flute and drums as they began. The primary executioner performed the highest form of respect, as if the king were presiding over the proceedings.

The executioner then lifted his sword and moved slowly towards the convict. It was said that then he would stamp on the ground but, if the sound startled the convict, he would lower his weapon and wait. He would strike only when his stomp received no response.

The initial cut would not be enough to sever the head cleanly, however. So immediately afterwards, the first executioner rushed off to wash his face with holy water in the holy circle. Then the secondary executioner finished the job with a second cut and threw the head into the hole the execution team had prepared.

The second executioner then rushed into the holy circle as the first executioner sprinkled him with holy water. The rest of the five-man team, who had been waiting in the holy circle, went out to untie the lifeless body and kick it into the hole.

In some cases, the heads of the condemned would be put on tall sticks and displayed in public for further humiliation and to deter others. Sometimes the bodies of the condemned were cut into pieces and used to feed vultures and crows. Another account states that there were three sword wielders and that the condemned would be whipped 90 times before being beheaded.

The modern legal system had been long introduced in Thailand before Prime Minister Phraya Pahonphonpayuhasena proposed the abolition of capital punishment to the cabinet in 1934. He was the second premier of Thailand after political reform replaced the absolute monarchy with a constitutional monarchy in 1932. His proposal caused widespread debate. Many people did not want capital punishment removed as they feared crime rates would increase.

Eventually it was decided that capital punishment was necessary as a deterrent and the debate shifted to whether to use electrocution or shooting, as decapitation was inhumane.

A lack of proper training meant that sometimes executioners missed the spot on the convict’s neck that could deliver sudden death and instead hit the head. These hackings resulted in horrific scenes of convicts painfully struggling between life and death. During their last hours, some convicts buckled under the immense fear of what might happen and they appeared to go insane.

At the time, the government was also concerned at how expensive beheadings were, saying the fees paid to the executioners and the costs involved in performing rituals were too high. Shooting was chosen as it would reduce costs in the long run and eliminate the excessive rituals.

The last person to be decapitated was a man named Boonpheng. His execution took place in 1931. Boonpheng was an orphan who was raised by his maternal grandparents. He grew up to be a charismatic but directionless young man.

Although he seemed to have no aim in life, he was obsessed with sorcery. He studied magic and other superstitious practices with an undertaker at a Buddhist temple. Although he had no real prospects of success, his good looks won him many female admirers.

The kind of magic he was studying usually was intended to produce negative outcomes, so his grandparents tried to discourage him from using it, but to no avail. When their pleas became too much for him, he moved to the Banglampoo area of Bangkok to start his own life. From then on, his reputation as a sorcerer spread quickly as he offered various services from performing a ritual to extend one’s life expectancy to making love charms. He attracted a lot of female followers. Some were seen visiting him at night before disappearing. It turned out that he would have sex with his victims before killing them. Then he chopped them into pieces, which he put into metal boxes and then dumped in a canal near his house.

His last victim, a wealthy woman, met her demise in a different manner. Abandoned by her husband, she took comfort in his company and became his regular lover for a while before she fell pregnant with his child. She then demanded that Boonpheng take her as his wife publicly. For this, he decided to kill her.

After murdering her and their unborn child, he went into hiding in Ayutthaya province where he became a monk. Later he resigned from the temple to marry another woman. Before he could become her husband, however, he was arrested and charged with killing seven women. The police had found seven boxes filled with human remains.

His execution was held in public and there were many people there to witness it, though the woman he intended to marry did not show up nor any relatives.

Reportedly, the executioner hacked at his neck with a sword but it didn’t get through. The executioner demanded, ‘Take off whatever protection you have.’ He found an amulet on his body, threw it away and resumed the proceedings. Witnesses said Boonpheng murmured something seconds before his head was severed. They assumed he was chanting magic in an attempt to save his own life but his magic didn’t stand a chance against the sword. This time the impact was fatal. His head fell off his shoulders as the audience let out screams. Blood gushed from his torso.

His relatives showed up later to arrange his cremation. It is rumored that his back resisted the fire initially. His ashes were stored in a small stupa at Pasee Temple in Bangkok. A shrine was erected in his name and some people pay respects to him there even now. They believe his spirit remains in this world. It is strange to think that Boonpheng has been elevated from serial killer to an entity worthy of respect.

The first person to be executed by machine gun at Bang Kwang Central Prison was Sawat Mahamad. His execution took place on September 11, 1935, for a crime perpetrated against the royal family.

Opinions vary as to whether capital punishment is necessary or not. The relatives of a killer and those who have never lost a loved one to murder may say they are against the idea but the relatives of the victim may want a life for a life.

One of the main arguments put forward by those in favour of such a penalty in Thailand is that if offenders are treated too leniently, the injured parties could feel aggrieved or even seek to take revenge personally. This reminds me of one case in particular where relatives of both the offender and the victim had a chance to voice their feelings.

In February 1980, nine men gang-raped a young girl called Lumduan and then killed her. One of them was her own relative named Somkid, a police officer. Her mother Wern was distraught and couldn’t believe that her own relative could inflict such an unspeakable act on her daughter.

In a newspaper interview, Wern said: ‘Honestly, if they would allow me to kill Somkid myself I would not hesitate to do so because I am so angry. And I want to kill them the same way they killed my daughter. My heart ached when I saw the bruises on her body. I want them to suffer the same way my daughter did. Shooting them is too easy. It doesn’t offer me an ounce of satisfaction.’

It was quite a statement to hear from a mild-mannered, middle-aged woman dressed in a simple blouse and sarong. The crime shocked the nation and four of the nine men were sentenced to summary execution under the regime of the then military government. Wern worried, however, that the five who had been given lighter sentences would try to harm her later.

On the other hand, Mee, Somkid’s adoptive mother, said the death penalty given to her son was justified because of the severity of the crime, though she couldn’t believe he could have done such a thing as it was so out of character.

Execution by shooting remained in effect until October 19, 2003, when the then warden of Bang Kwang Central Prison Pittaya Sangkanakin held a press conference to announce that it would be replaced by lethal injection from that day onwards. Four Buddhist monks performed rituals on the two crosses where convicts had been put to death. I was there to hand over to the new team.

I put the HK MP5 submachine gun into its box, looked at it for the last time, before closing the lid and putting a lock it, marking the end of execution by gun. I looked at a plate placed above the entrance of the execution room. It says ‘Place to End All Sorrow’ though it should be called the ‘death chamber’. The ceremony concluded with 319 balloons being set free to symbolise the emancipation of the souls of the condemned from the prison. Three of them were female, six of them were foreigners from Burma, Laos, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the rest were Thai males. I had pulled the trigger on 55 of them.

After execution by lethal injection was introduced, I decided to enter a monastery for 15 days in November 2003. There were three reasons for my decision. First, it was to fulfil a long overdue duty as a son to my parents. Every Thai man is expected to become a monk at least once in his life as a way to make merit on behalf of his parents and to show how grateful he is to them. I was 55 years old but had been distracted from this duty by the business of raising a family. Second, there was a mass ordination being organised in honour of His Majesty the King on the auspicious occasion of his birthday and the merit the monks made was also devoted to the beloved king. Third, it was my way to make merit for those I had wronged including the people I put to death or helped to put to death.

My wife joked that, of all the men being ordained, I was the one who needed merit-making the most. She was concerned about my spiritual wellbeing. All in all, it is a beautiful tradition and it provided me with a break from the usual business of living. I didn’t feel truly comfortable as a monk but I was glad to complete another rite of passage of a Thai man.