A reporter for a local Thai-language daily and TV station was shot dead inside his own house on August 1 in Nakorn Ratchasima province.
Police identified the victim as Athiwat Chaiyanurat, a reporter for “Matichon” newspaper and stringer for the army-owned Channel 7.
In a statement, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) condemned the killing of Athiwat as “a reckless and barbaric act.”
A police chief investigator of Division 8 of the Provincial Police Command responsible for Nakorn Sri Thammarat said the killing took place in the victim’s house in Tambon Chaiyamontri, Muang District around 8 PM (local time) while he was in the kitchen cooking for his wife and son. Police said two bullets hit the victim on the back. Two more shots were fired on his head. Col. Ranapong Saikaew, deputy commissioner of Division 8, said the killer must have slipped earlier inside the house undetected.
According to Ranapong, the victim’s wife and son had just phoned him 10 minutes before they walked home to find his dead body.
Preliminary investigation suggested the killing was linked to Athiwat’s work as a journalist. Earlier, he reported about the alleged corruption within the local administration. He had also reported a police manhunt for a hit man who had been in the district prior to the local election. His report about the assassin reportedly angered a senior civil servant who allegedly provided protection for the hit man. The reporter had received death threats before and exercised caution whenever he was traveling.
“The fact that the killing took place inside the reporter’s house indicates that it is not only premeditated but also masterminded by influential figures,” said the TJA statement.
“It challenges authorities’ responsibility in protecting and keeping public peace and order,” it added.
More important, the TJA said that the killing was obviously “aimed at silencing the media and discouraging them from reporting facts.”
The TJA in its statement urged the National Police Commissioner to take quick action in arresting and bringing the killer to justice so that Athiwat’s murder shall not be taken as a precedent in threatening the media.
The journalists’ group also urged the police to regularly report the progress in the investigation to the public so as to restore public confidence.
