13 year old girl raped and killed on Thai overnight train

[socksy]

If this tragic case wasn't bad enough - now this comes out

BANGKOK: -- Someone pulled the strings at the State Railway of Thailand, an institution with a long history of controversy and corruption, to get a job for the man police say raped and murdered a teen passenger on Sunday.

Despite having a criminal record, Wanchai Saengkao, 22, used his connections to a relative who works for SRT to land a job cleaning trains, where he routinely got drunk and high.

"The problem with employees who were hired through connections is that they think they're more privileged than others,” SRT Gov. Prapat Chongsanguan said. “They are not afraid to break the rules such as drinking on duty when the punishment is expulsion."

That relative even went so far as to conceal Wanchai’s criminal records, which included two drug-related prosecutions, according to Prapat.

As is the norm in the accountability-averse halls of power, the identity of that relative is being kept secret.

Wanchai reportedly submitted a forged, version of his criminal record scrubbed of any blemishes to the organization himself while a background check was supposed to be conducted by SRT staff. [read more...]

Full story: http://bangkok.cocon...-hiring-wanchai

[trubrit]

This is a very serious case that is turning into a bit of a sattire. Firstly the big General has announced the dismissal of the railway head. Secondly the poor girls family were paraded before the assembled media to proclaim the wonderful work the police did in discovering the body so quickly, only to have the eldest sister say they did nothing and actually suggested the little girl might have run off with a boyfriend before getting off their arses. The sister actually commended the volunteer rescue team for their tireless efforts that led to her discovery .TIT

[SanukJoe]

Not TIT, but TINT: This is the New Thailand!

Heads roll, corruption is unveiled, weapons are confiscated, killers are traced and prosecuted, rice scam sees the light, nepotism comes to light, restructuring will be done.

The General has the power and the will to clean up the rotten parts of this beautiful country. More things have been done in one month than in decades before, think of Phuket taxi maffia, airport and Bangkok taxi restructure, land encroachment, illegal logging, big shots leaving state enterprises like PTT, Thai.

This governor has to go, he is a liar and a self-protecting clown that is by far not able to run the state railways. The employee who helped this serial rapist and killer get a job should not only be sacked but also prosecuted, hiding criminal record is a crime and we see to what it can lead. Then a new appointed leader will restructure SRT with emphasis on safety on the tracks and in the trains.

[Zidane]

In this particular case,I think the big problem is that a Life Sentence does not mean life in Thailand.
This scumbag could be out in say,12 years,by which time he will only be 34.Odds are he will re-offend,similarily, again....dont tell me he will be re-habilitated in a Thai prison.
If he is not executed he should never be let out of prison and should have his back passage systematically torn apart over the years for the evil he has done !

[socksy]

In this particular case,I think the big problem is that a Life Sentence does not mean life in Thailand.
This scumbag could be out in say,12 years,by which time he will only be 34.Odds are he will re-offend,similarily, again....dont tell me he will be re-habilitated in a Thai prison.
If he is not executed he should never be let out of prison and should have his back passage systematically torn apart over the years for the evil he has done !

You mean a ringpiece like a Bonanza Map Zid?

[jackspratt]

I find it interesting that posters on one hand show their abhorrence for one form of violent sexual assault, but in the next breath advocate exactly the same thing in a prison environment.

[parrot]

I find it interesting that posters on one hand show their abhorrence for one form of violent sexual assault, but in the next breath advocate exactly the same thing in a prison environment.

Sort of like.....it's okay to torture our prisoners of war, but not them ours.

[Zidane]

I think the difference is that this poor,innocent young girl was assaulted and murdered with no thought whatsoever for her feelings by the killer.
By committing these dreadful acts the killer has lost all rights to be treated like a decent human being,in my book.
If he is not executed then he deserves all he gets in prison....but thats only my opinion.
I know there are some who would advocate he should receive counselling and stay in a nice cell with TV etc.but they cant see that some people are just pure evil !

[wazza]

So a drunk driver who gets smashed and then drives with no thought for what he might do to others etc

Smashes into a 3rd party car, killing an entire family , they all die in the next 4 hours from the horrific injuries, should also be excecuted ??

Dreadful Act, no thought what so ever, Diffferent Drug in this case, but same side effects, inability to make a clear decision etc.

[socksy]

I agree to an extent and their idea of being able to drive safely is totally obscured, but they are not premediated thoughts of killing someone. They do however deserve to be severely punished but here that is often not the case and the surviving family getas a pay off thus the accused does not lose his/her liberty. A bit different to raping someone then killing them and throwing them off a train, or so I think.

[wazza]

Socksy. the issue is sadly the guy was a Meth head. plus alcohol and u have a chemical killer pumped up. I woukd say he had no plans to premiditate n kill her. Opportunistic crime gone tragicallywrong

[socksy]

Wazza, okay you have your opinion and I have mine. So I'll leave it at that. Cheers from socksy.

[Zidane]

"Railway employee who allegedly raped and killed a 13 year old girl on board a train discussed and unveiled his plan whilst drinking with friends shortly before he attacked his victim,police said.
Police quoted a 19 year old friend of Wanchai Sangkhao as admitting that Wanchai told him and two other railway employees during a drinking that Wanchai targetted the girl since she got up the train in Surat Thani.
Wanchai even said whilst drinking with three staffs on the train that he would sexually attack her.
The friend also told police that Wanchai disappeared for a while before returning to the staff quarter and told him that he had thrown the girl from the train."

Taken from the thread on Udon Talk.....this was a premeditated attack on the young girl......doesnt say much for the morals of the other railway staff either.

Whilst the drink driving scenario you quote is very serious and the offender would deserve the book to be thrown at him/her,and a long jail sentence,it is more likely to be down to an idiot who could well show remorse in prison.

The railway employee is just pure evil......absolutely no excuses for him....there is a difference.

[GT93]

There are many reasons the death penalty isn't a sensible solution in Thailand (source at the end):

"- The death penalty has not been proven to be an effective deterrent against crime. Thai laws use the death penalty against drug criminals, murderers, and coup planners (Section 113 of Criminal Code), yet these offenses remain rampant.

- Criminology experts have warned that using the death penalty in rape cases may put victims in even greater danger, as it may lead perpetrators to murder victims in an effort to cover up the crime. Women rights groups have also argued that equating rape with murder is psychologically harmful to rape victims because it contributes to the view that “rape is a fate worse than death” and that victims are “permanently damaged.”

- Thailand's justice system is not reliable enough to be responsible for decisions about life and death. Thai courts have an extensive history of falsely convicting defendants and police have been known to force suspects to confess to crimes they did not commit.

The most notorious case is the 1986 murder of Thai-American teenage girl Sherry Ann Duncan, for which four men were falsely convicted and imprisoned. Although the Supreme Court acquitted the defendants six years later, one defendant had already died in prison.

- Thailand does not need a greater punishment for rape; it just needs better law enforcement. Putting rapists in prison is sufficient. Making their punishment more severe will do nothing to prevent rape as long as law enforcement authorities are apathetic about pursuing cases of sexual assault.

According to Yanee Lertkrai, director of the Department of Social Development and Welfare, many sexual assault victims say police have done little to follow up on their complaints. Furthermore, the lack of convictions by authorities has discouraged victims from pursuing cases against perpetrators because they think there's little chance of achieving justice.

- Lastly, it is especially unwise to normalise the use of the death penalty while the country remains under the military rule of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Without secure human rights, there is dangerous potential for capital punishment to be gravely abused."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/741 ... paign=news

[rct]

Interesting editorial

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... -bloodlust

[socksy]

Death penalty isn't a deterrent to those yet to offend but 100% deterrent to those convicted of such crimes to be released and reoffend.

[Aardvark]

DNA Results ..... http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/4 ... t-identity

[GT93]

Death penalty isn't a deterrent to those yet to offend but 100% deterrent to those convicted of such crimes to be released and reoffend.

One of the problems with the death penalty, particularly in the US, is too many innocent people tend to be convicted and sentenced to death. Particularly the poor and African Americans. If a country is going to have the death penalty, justice demands that those facing such a sentence if convicted have access to excellent lawyers. In the US they seem to be represented by half wits. In NZ those charged with murder have access to very good lawyers even though we haven't had the death penalty for 50 years (although only 25 years for treason).

Anyhow this is old hat. The death penalty is history. It doesn't work. Most murderers are good people who do an appalling act. They get life, are parolled after 10 to 15 years of a life sentence, and aren't any trouble after that. The problem is the few who are too dangerous to be released and seeing that the community is protected from them. This few seems to be increasing in number.

[Jing Jing]

First let me say I don't have a dog in the hunt ... Before one talks about the pros and cons of the death penalty maybe you should read these two articles.

http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/tedbundy.htm

http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_m ... oot/1.html

[parrot]

A good reason to oppose the death penalty.......numbnuts like this:
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/742 ... d-selling/
It might seem far-fetched by some.....but then there's China:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_offences_in_China