14 February 2005
Kiat Saetang
Shooting
Kiat Saetang, managing editor of the bi-monthly newspaper "Had Yai Post", was shot dead near a central market in the bustling town of Had Yai, in Thailand's southern province of Songkhla.
Witnesses said Kiat, 54, was on his motorbike approaching a small street near the market when he was shot three times from behind by one of two men on another motorbike. Only two bullets hit Kiat on the back but he was killed instantly. The unidentified assassins immediately fled the scene amidst the bystanders' screams.
Witnesses only remembered sketchy details of the killers' motorbike but not enough to know where it originated. Kiat's wife, Suchin Saetang, told the police she believed the killing was linked to his various exposes on the misconduct of local Had Yai politicians. She also confirmed that he had been receiving telephone threats.
