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| Leader of Lao border post raid shot dead in Thailand
BANGKOK, Nov 3 (AFP) - A Lao national who helped lead a bloody cross-border raid on a Lao customs post three years ago was shot dead in eastern Thailand Monday, police said. Sisuk Chaisaeng, 41, was gunned down outside his home in Ubon Ratchathani province, from where dozens of Thais and Lao nationals staged a brazen raid on the Vang Tao post in July 2000, Police Colonel Manit Cheauvivat said. BizVantage – When knowing counts: Business, Investing, Technology. "He was part of the bloody raid in Laos," Manit told AFP. "It could have been a business conflict, becuase he was trading in weapons, " he said of the shooting. "It also could have been revenge by relatives of people involved in the riots, because three years ago he lured a group of Thais to be part of the incident and a few were shot to death," he added. "Their relatives have been hunting him." Manit said an investigation into the killing was underway. A 60-strong band of mostly emigre Laotians occupied customs buildings at the border station in July 2000, until Lao troops ended the siege with an assault that killed six rebels and drove dozens more into Thailand. Twenty-eight of the raiders who fled across the border, including 11 Thais, were sentenced to jail terms in a Thai court in March 2002. The activists were branded bandits by the communist government in Laos, but Thailand's criminal court ruled that the raising of a three-headed elephant flag during the operation was a form of political expression and dismissed Vientiane's demand that Thailand extradite the 16 surviving Laotians. A 17th defendant had died in Thai custody. Thai law prohibits extradition of people who have committed political crimes. Sisuk was not one of the original group of raiders picked up by Thai police. He was arrested for arms dealing earlier this year and released on bail, and had constantly changed his location before his death, Manit said. tp/mlm/sls/pch Thailand-Laos
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