Nin Khuom, 52, prepares food for the spirit of her dead son, who was reportedly burned alive by Thai soldiers. Inset: A family photo. (Photo by: Robbie Corey-Boulet)Monday, 19 October 2009
Thet Sambath and May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
"His foot is still at the scene of the attack because I am afraid [to go back]....”Cambodian parents describe efforts to cope with their 16-year-old son’s death.
Oddar Meanchey Province
THE Thai embassy in Phnom Penh has rejected a report finding that a Cambodian teenager from Oddar Meanchey province was shot and burned alive by Thai soldiers last month, condemning it as provocative and not rooted in evidence.
“I oppose this accusation that Thai soldiers burned the Cambodian teenager alive and killed him,” Thai embassy First Secretary Kamrob Palawatwichai said in the embassy’s first public response to the charges. “It is not true at all, and the Thais are not happy with this report. It makes us look fierce.”
He added that the embassy would launch its own investigation into the incident, which has triggered outrage and condemnation from senior government officials this side of the border.
Meanwhile, the parents of 16-year-old Yon Rith stood by their original version of events when reached by phone Sunday, adding that they had not yet heard from local officials about how the dispute would be resolved and whether they would receive compensation.
In an interview last week at the family’s home in Kroch Sakhorn village, located in Samrong district’s Kon Kreal commune, Saing Yon, the boy’s father, said he was afraid to return to the illegal logging site, adding that he did not know how he would support his family without money earned from selling wood.
Nin Khuom, Yon Rith’s 52-year-old mother, said that despite her husband’s fears, she wanted to bring food to the spirit of her dead son and to retrieve his ashes. During a visit to the site shortly after the September 11 killing, she said, the family retrieved only the top half of his body, which was not burned, and held a funeral ceremony for him near their home.
“I took only half of my son’s body then to celebrate the ceremony for him,” she said. “His foot is still at the scene of the attack because I am afraid that the Thai soldiers will come and arrest us if we go back.”
Kang Mao, a 39-year-old neighbour who was with the illegal logging group when it was attacked, said Yon Rith had just sat down to lunch when the shooting began.
The Thai government has said that his body was burned only after he died of gunshot wounds, but Kang Mao said he believed the boy was burned alive.
Saing Yon said the ill-fated excursion, in which another teenager was also shot and seriously injured, had been his son’s first across the Thai border.
“He was too young. He didn’t know any better,” he said.
Harsh punishment
Though he acknowledged that the villagers had been logging illegally, he said they were not able to make as much money cutting down Cambodian trees.
“The reason that people cross to that area is because there is the best-quality wood there,” he said.
He and Kang Mao both said the soldiers should have merely arrested Yong Rith and sent him back to Cambodia.
“Please don’t shoot loggers and burn them alive when you catch them in Thailand,” Kong Mao said. If you cut down a tree, you can just plant a new one. But a logger is not a plant. When you shoot a logger, he is just dead.”
30 comments:
Fucking You Ah Chor Siam!
The truth is still the truth, though physical proof does not exis.
poor people!!!
die to pouk ah barbarous thai. These barbarous siams are good in killing weak and poor innocent people but left the rich occidentals sold and treated them corn pets. i found a bound of these pets in occident sold to prostitute and domestic in Europeby occidentals like pets
What is the Siamese soldiers' intention when he states that the boy already dead and he needed to burn the body?
It seems another motive was at large from the soldiers respond. The Siamese is a DEVIATED RACE, they cannot be TRUSTED.
This is not the first time that Thai black clad soldier had done heinous toward our unarmed poor khmer people, during 1979-K.I.D refugees camp, Thai soldier force khmer teenager to sleep with each other, they were brother and sister, Thai black soldier threaten to rape the girl, if they refuse, Thais soldiers were enjoyed the shows, laughing, mocking, making all kinds of joke both of them(Teenagers) hung themselves to death after returning back to the camp, because they can't face each other, this is the truth story of our poor khmer refugees people that time, too many Khmer refugees were force to walks on landmines fields at Phnom Mali(cambodia-Siam border) Thais soldier open fire from behind, and force them to walks on landmines....i believed Thai soldier shot and burned Khmer boy alive for sure!, even though they still denying....
This is not the first time that Thai black clad soldier had done heinous toward our unarmed poor khmer people, during 1979-K.I.D refugees camp, Thai soldier force khmer teenager to sleep with each other, they were brother and sister, Thai black soldier threaten to rape the girl, if they refuse, Thais soldiers were enjoyed the shows, laughing, mocking, making all kinds of joke both of them(Teenagers) hung themselves to death after returning back to the camp, because they can't face each other, this is the truth story of our poor khmer refugees people that time, too many Khmer refugees were force to walks on landmines fields at Phnom Mali(cambodia-Siam border) Thais soldier open fire from behind, and force them to walks on landmines....i believed Thai soldier shot and burned Khmer boy alive for sure!, even though they still denying....
ah Hun ah, stopped cutting down the trees. ah ehng start planting more trees now.
ah Hun ah, looked up the word Sustainability. Once you understand, there are many ways to improve the climate change.
ah Hun ah, Don't just complaint, start doing the Right things now for Cambodia.
Thai kill Khmer, and their neighbour all the time. The question are the neigbour going to do about it? UN? The world? Nobody hear the victime cry for help.
Thailand about to be breaking apart, and there would be no sympathy from the victim of their savage killers.
every family feels the pain of losing their loved one. may god help her to find justice for her son.
Of course(Thais)they never admited that they did it, Thais soldier mad because they lost alot of their fellows during the fight with khmer soldiers, but they shouldn't take revenged on unarmed poor civilian...??? and it's Thai Govt's faults! i hope khmer soldier kills some more of them, if there's another encroaching from thais-thief, khmer soldier bring out more heavy weapons and get ready please....burned Thai black soldier alive at the Pagoda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those fucken Thais soldier still staying at the Pagoda still...? man! when ta fuck, they're going to get out????
Thailand killed and abused their own people in Southern part...Yala, these people were abused by Thai government for many century, just like khmer krom in Vietnam, i hope all khmer and khmer muslm throughout Thailand wake up and rise up and fight Thai govenment, stop Thai-Govt's abusive...
YALA MUST BE FREE!!!!!!!!!GOD WILL GRANTS US VICTORY...
“It is not true at all, and the Thais are not happy with this report. It makes us look fierce.”
=The fucken Siem bastards are not only fierce but they are fucken crazy like a dog and as a crazy they will do anything to hide the fucken evidence that is why they choose to burn this teenager alive! This is the nightmare in the making for the Siem leaders to promote senseless killing of Cambodian population!
This is called for retaliation! Even a peaceful Siem Buddhist go around killing innocence Muslim in Southern Thailand and Cambodian peaceful Buddhist can do the same thing by killing these Siem barbaric killers of Cambodian people!
ah Hun Zen ah ploe ah lob.
khmer
I think most of these abusers are ethnic khmer who rejected their khmer sides. Instead, they rather impress their thai masters. Traitors are what they are. In Thailand, the khmer surin elders want to teach their kids the khmer language so they don't forget their khmer heritage, but most of the younger generations refuse to learn it. They prefer the thai language. Some probably will say they are thai instead of khmer. When Thailand starts sinking, don't run over to Cambodia saying you're khmer all of a sudden.
I agree with comments above 100%! i find that alot of Thais black soldier who abused khmer unarmed civilians probably khmer descendant, because these soldier can speak khmer languages very well? i thinks real Thais people and Gov't"Chakri dynasty" wanted khmer to kill khmer each other, i hope the stupid Khmer surins wake up and rise up, don't get fool by Chakri dynasty...
I really don't care!, if they shot and burned my people alive, they are not my brother and sister, they are my enemy forever!, they lived in Thailand, they are my enemy, if they called themselves khmer descendant, they don't kills their own people, fuck all those khmer Surins mother fucker!! they are the most cruelty people on earth.....
No mercy to these Surins bastard, shoot and kills them as much as we could kills, the stupid drunkard white wine mother fucker!!
My condolence to the family....I could feel their pains and loss.
Where are all the human rghts NGOs and UN Human Rights ? What are they doing now that a teenager was burned alive? Would this still be allowed in the 21st century?
What is the latest on the Cambodian government's investigation? The government needs to press the Thai counterpart on this. It has been a habit for the Thai soldiers to shoot at Cambodian civilians at will, set their houses along the borders on fire ... These savage behaviors must be stoped!
Well, Samdach archko Hun kwack kept saying...be patient! i'm sicken tired of these fucken words folks! if we kept playing soft like this, they will kept shot and burned all the people along entire border area...
Folks! our people has been shot and killed by Thai black soldier again! i don't understand why people still crossing into Thailand again and again? whoever asking khmer to go there, must be caught and punish....
I heard some Khmer merchant send these poor people there to do a works for them, cambodian authority must hunt down this khmer merchants and punish the bastard....
There is no proof that the killer are Khmer Surin or Khmer merchant!
The Siem are the killers of Khmer people! This is called for retaliation!
When Thais people enter our territory illegally, we caught them, questions them and send them back with no harms, but our people, Thais just open fire without any warning at all...i think we should do the same to them from now on....
There's a entrance at Chrok ro being, Thais people flooding in, to gamble, and no one bother to do anything....? khmer even treated them like special guest...
Why the Thai must live and the Cambodian must die? Tell me does the Thai know how to fly in the air or walk on the ground the same as Cambodian people?
Go kill the Thai for revenge!
These 5 men went into Thai village to works in (Potatoes fields) for Thais merchant(villager), because they asking them to! after they return home, on the way back they were caught by bunch of Thais black soldier, but thai soldier not suppose to shoot these men? all they do, just jails them or something..? if they broke their law by crossing illeagally, The Thai Kept saying Khmer cutting down their trees illegally, it' was not true at all, they were worker, working in Potatoes field....20 bahd a day, thais paid them!
Thais soldier just made it up, about khmer cutting down their trees illegally, Thais wants to shoot these people on purpose!
It's dangerous to crossing into the border like that, there's alot mines left all over the places, i don't know why people risk their life like this...
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