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Department of Corrections, Bangkok. July 2009.
Chavoret Jaruboon, Thailand's last gun executioner.
"His (Sudjai, the rapist of his step daughter and the murderer of his step son) was my last execution and I thoroughly resented having to do it.
"I knew hat the advent of lethal injection was just around the corner, plus it had been a year since the last execution. So I thought I was in the clear and that shooting people was behind me now. I was very disappointed when I was told to prepare for this one. I had hoped there would be some kind of amnesty, anything that might prevent this shooting from taking place. But nothing happened.
"I was now beginning to tire of people introducing me to strangers as 'the executioner'. I was also tiring of inappropriate reactions like, 'Hey, so this is what a legal killer looks like.' Did they honestly think I was going to laugh at that?
"There was nothing remarkable about my last execution. I didn't speak with the prisoner and there were no scenes of terror or regret from him. For the last time I retrieved the gun and the bullets from the armoury. I cleaned them thoroughly and checked the box of bullets. Each shell had to be inspected for cracks.
When I was satisfied I brought them to my office in the Foreign Affairs Section and locked them in my desk drawer. Then I signed off and headed home, as usual, for a a bath and a nap. Tew (wife) was the only one who understood how I was feeling; she had also believed that I had executed my last criminal a year ago.
"I returned to the prison a couple of hours after and took the guns down to the execution room where I set them up on their stands and waited glumly. I saw Sudjai on my way in when he was getting his photograph and fingerprints taken. His sullen face didn't betray any emotion as he complied with his escort's directions. Well, that made it a little easier for me...
"He arrived at the execution room just after 5pm and was tied to the cross at 5.15pm. At 5.21pm on 11 December 2002 I fired eight bullets, killing him instantly."
Department of Corrections, Bangkok. July 2009.
Chavoret Jaruboon, Thailand's last gun executioner.
"His (Sudjai, the rapist of his step daughter and the murderer of his step son) was my last execution and I thoroughly resented having to do it.
"I knew hat the advent of lethal injection was just around the corner, plus it had been a year since the last execution. So I thought I was in the clear and that shooting people was behind me now. I was very disappointed when I was told to prepare for this one. I had hoped there would be some kind of amnesty, anything that might prevent this shooting from taking place. But nothing happened.
"I was now beginning to tire of people introducing me to strangers as 'the executioner'. I was also tiring of inappropriate reactions like, 'Hey, so this is what a legal killer looks like.' Did they honestly think I was going to laugh at that?
"There was nothing remarkable about my last execution. I didn't speak with the prisoner and there were no scenes of terror or regret from him. For the last time I retrieved the gun and the bullets from the armoury. I cleaned them thoroughly and checked the box of bullets. Each shell had to be inspected for cracks.
When I was satisfied I brought them to my office in the Foreign Affairs Section and locked them in my desk drawer. Then I signed off and headed home, as usual, for a a bath and a nap. Tew (wife) was the only one who understood how I was feeling; she had also believed that I had executed my last criminal a year ago.
"I returned to the prison a couple of hours after and took the guns down to the execution room where I set them up on their stands and waited glumly. I saw Sudjai on my way in when he was getting his photograph and fingerprints taken. His sullen face didn't betray any emotion as he complied with his escort's directions. Well, that made it a little easier for me...
"He arrived at the execution room just after 5pm and was tied to the cross at 5.15pm. At 5.21pm on 11 December 2002 I fired eight bullets, killing him instantly."