Narrator
(VO): |
He
was a respected businessman, a family man. As former head of the Australian
Red Cross, he was know for his humanitarian views. |
|
As
one of the world's top financial trouble shooters, he was consulted on the
IMF's restructuring programme. |
|
But
all that ended here, on a dusty trek, deep in the heart of Thailand. |
|
Michael
Wansley had twice made the trip up this road from Bangkok. |
|
After
18 months in Thailand, he knew the lay of the land, or so it seemed. |
|
He
was heading toward Kaset Thai sugar mill. A company
with the same problems that destroyed many firms in Asia's economic meltdown. |
Narrator
(on): |
As
they drove towards the mill that morning Michael Wansley was sitting right
here. There was a Thai translator in front of him, and two Thai colleagues
were sitting behind him. |
|
For
the hail of bullets that was about to be unleashed, it's remarkable that
nobody else was even injured. |
Narrator
(VO): |
A
couple of kilometres from the sugar mill, at [Nong
Pho] Temple, two Thais were waiting. |
|
It
was to be a classic Thai assassination. The gunman didn't even bother
covering his face. |
|
As
they approached the mill, his killer struck. |
|
This
is Nakhon Sawan, the biggest trading town in
Thailand's Central North. Among the Thais themselves, it's not unusual for
business disputes here to end in violence. There have been seven murders in
the past two months. |
|
Having
a Thai killed can cost as little as a few hundred dollars. But getting a high
profile foreigner murdered is unusual and expensive. There must have been a
lot at stake. |
|
Nakhon
Sawan is a Chinese town. And for the past couple of
centuries, the Chinese have used their legendary trading skills to build vast
business empires. In this area, the Chinese run the business. And the biggest
business here, is sugar. |
|
For
a full month's season each year, these massive turbines run 24 hours a day.
It was a huge money spiller for the Chinese family that runs it. |
|
But
the company now finds itself in debt, a staggering 450 million US dollars. |
|
Representing
the banks, Michael Wansley was armed with a court order to open the company's
books. |
|
It
seemed a logical place to start. |
|
There
are nine family members running this group. The eldest is known as [Pia So],
the steel buffalo, for his aggressive disposition. He's being investigated in
connection with the killing. But he's unavailable for comment. |
|
Instead,
I spoke with his younger brother, [Prasir Siriviriyakul], the deputy manager. |
Siriviriyakul: |
The
people from the newspaper, all the media, having suspect us, suspect the
people in our factories. Becoming very bad. |
Narrator
(on): |
What
do you think was the reason for Michael Wansley's murder? |
Siriviriyakul: |
The
business before he come to our ... |
Narrator
(on): |
They
shot him on your gate. |
Siriviriyakul: |
I
think the one who made it, he's very clever that everyone have to suspect us,
because it happened in front of our sugar mill. |
Narrator
(VO): |
And,
indeed, Wansley had been threatened before he was involved in the sugar
business. Across Thai industry, there's now growing resentment at the IMF's
tough restructuring programme, made especially bitter, because it's carried
out by foreigners. |
Narrator
(on): |
Your
father built this up, you've been running it for 40 years, Thais are very
proud people, right, and how do you feel about having to have a foreigner
come in here and tell you what to do? |
Siriviriyakul: |
I
think if we have to feel like that. If possible we don't need this situation
happen. |
Narrator
(VO): |
It's
an important case. Top police generals from Bangkok have arrived in Nakhon Sawan to personally take charge of the investigation. |
|
But
while the government is taking the case very seriously, they have a dilemma. |
|
On
the one hand, they're terrified of the murder's impact on foreign confidence.
On the other, they're aware of the growing resentment of foreign interference
in the country's economy. |
Walden
Bello: |
This
is a case that has now pushed into the public view, the big debate that's
happening in Thailand, around the restructuring being forced by the
International Monetary Fund. |
Narrator
(VO): |
[Walden
Bello] is an academic specialising in the aftermath of Asia's economic crash. |
Walden
Bello: |
It
plays right into, I think, the increasing nationalist resentments about the
way that the IMF programme in this country, the government programme could
lead to a sell off of a lot of Thai assets to foreign corporations, and to
foreigners. So those are issues that are in the subtext of this murder. |
Narrator
(VO): |
Police
general [Pasan Wong Yai]
thinks he's hot on the trail. |
Police
General: |
We
hope we finish about before 4 o'clock today. And all the other [gunners], and
mastermind of these people, will be finished today. |
Narrator
(on): |
Will
that information give you the lead to make arrests? |
Police
General: |
Yes. |
Narrator
(on): |
By
today? |
Police
General: |
Yes.
Everybody finished today. |
Cane
Union Pres: |
[foreign
language] |
Narrator
(VO): |
But
it was not going to be that easy. In this part of the world, neither
business, politics, or crime are straightforward. |
|
Many
had reason to object to the outside world meddling in their affairs. |
|
As
president of the cane growers union, [Sang Bhatt Kiritusak]
works in an industry riddled with corruption, and know for swift local
justice. |
Cane
Union Pres: |
[foreign
language] |
Narrator
(VO): |
It's
tough, dangerous work. And it's run by some of the toughest guys around. |
|
Every
year the growers, usually Thai, square off against the mill owners, usually
Chinese, in a showdown over pricing. Both the feudal gangs of growers, and
the family clans, use [stand over] tactics. |
Cane
Union Pres: |
[foreign
language] |
Narrator
(VO): |
Beneath
the surface, these layers of interest, and time honoured practise, confuse Western
eyes. The IMF is demanding Thais change the way they do things, that, indeed,
they become more like the West. But in this, as in many cases, globalisation
undermines national identity. |
Walden
Bello: |
It
could have been Thais, who should have done this process of monitoring and
checking, but, again, because of a strong suspicion on the part of the IMF,
that everybody in Thailand is corrupt, only foreigners can do this. |
Narrator
(VO): |
There's
also a growing perception in the business community that Western interests,
and Western money, were more than happy to play during the Asian boom,
despite the crony capitalism, despite the corruption. But now in tough times,
the West is hypocritically taking the moral high ground for its own economic
benefit. |
Walden
Bello: |
Sure,
let's clean up crony capitalism, but let's makes sure that's a strategic
measure. The other thing is, let's make sure that certain interests do not
use this cleaning up to push their own rapid control of the economy. |
Narrator
(VO): |
It's
now more than a week since the murder of Michael Wansley. The police, again,
say they are closing in on the killer, and the mastermind. |
|
General
[Prasan] confirms that the sugar mill's family are
under growing suspicion. |
Narrator
(on): |
What
was the irregularity that he discovered. |
Police
General: |
[I
believe] cheating. |
Narrator
(VO): |
Indeed
he tells me that Parphan Siriviriyakul,
the steel buffalo, is chief suspect, and soon to be arrested. They were
simply waiting for a warrant. |
Police
General: |
They
used to make money. They used to earn money, no matter right or wrong. They
might come, and become some [executive] for that. |
Narrator
(VO): |
With
an arrest imminent, preparations are made for a victorious press conference.
The powerful interior minister is coming to town especially to preside. |
|
But
at the last minute, there's a change of plan. |
Narrator
(on): |
Have
you arrested [Parphan] in the company? |
Police
General: |
Not
yet. We have to get some more evidence. |
Narrator
(VO): |
There
is no warrant. The interior minister is not coming. The steel buffalo remains
free. |
|
But
the police insists they have a new suspect, important enough to lay on a
helicopter, and send me to a local police station. |
|
And
here the police have turned up, not the gunman, not even the motorcycle
rider, but the wife of a man suspected of throwing the motorcycle into a pond
after the hit. |
|
And
Thailand's police commissioner decides to downplay the police assertion that
they're about to get their man. |
Police
Comm: |
[foreign
language]. |
Narrator
(on): |
How
easy is it to solve a case like this in Thailand? |
Walden
Bello: |
I
am really sceptical about it being solved in anyway soon. I think first of
all, it takes years and years, for many cases like this to be solved. |
Narrator
(on): |
Why
is that? |
Walden
Bello: |
Because
there's a lot of questions of political connections over here. A lot of
interests are in play. It's not just one person, or two people, or just one
family, there's a whole of structure of, what you might call a network of
interests that come into play in cases like this. |
Narrator
(VO): |
The
prime minister is visiting the Nakhon Sawan to open
a festival. General [Pasan] is ordered in to brief
him on the murder investigation. |
Narrator
(on): |
Are
you satisfied with the speed of the police investigation? |
Prime
Minister: |
You
can answer. |
Narrator
(on): |
Are
you happy with the speed? |
|
[crosstalk]. |
Police
General: |
You
can ask me. He told you to ask me. |
Narrator
(on): |
Could
I ask him ... |
Narrator
(VO): |
It's
a difficult moment. In the local press, questions have been raised about
connections between the suspects and certain politicians. |
Narrator
(on): |
Are
you worried that politics, protection, something's getting involved in this? |
Police
General: |
No,
no. No political, no police protection, or nothing. [inaudible]. |
Narrator
(on): |
Are
you still confident that you're gonna get the main
guy. |
Police
General: |
Yes.
Confidence. Completely confidence. |
Narrator
(VO): |
It's
the very complexity of the Thai world that confuses the West. The IMF failed
to see the eminent crisis. In his own way, Michael Wansley tragically failed
to read the signs. |
|
Like
all things Thai, this case is far from simple. |
|
And
in these tense, post meltdown times, it's unlikely the truth about Michael
Wansley's murder will be quickly forthcoming. |