No Corners to Hide – Can Lt. Cdr. Virojn's Testimony Cut Short the Case?

Details have emerged about the background of Lt. Cdr. Virojn Ketumani, a former naval officer and the fifth suspect in the shooting of Pol. Gen. Malasakdi Liwamaow, a Nakhon Si Thammarat MP from the Thai Nation Party, recently arrested by police. He is one of two gunmen who fired M16 rifles, injuring two people severely.

With his decade-long experience as a UN security officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined with YouTube clips showing him expertly analyzing Afghan situations with detailed knowledge of various ethnic groups, it becomes clear why his testimony in the MP shooting case is filled with evasions and selective admissions—claiming no one directed him, that ISOC and the military were uninvolved, and citing personal disapproval of the MP as a human rights lawyer, before concluding that Thailand's territory is sacred and indivisible.

Given his preparation time, readiness, and extensive foreign experience, his fragmented testimony appears calculated to shield others from prosecution. He is indeed an extraordinary suspect. However, no matter how knowledgeable or experienced, when someone stands accused as a shooter hunting human life, prosecution must proceed without exception. Those with expertise who turn to dark purposes must be caught and pursued. His invocation that Thailand's territory cannot be divided is absurd—MP Malasakdi is certainly not a separatist, making this the flimsiest of excuses.

Regardless of how skillfully Lt. Cdr. Virojn testifies to compartmentalize the case, the factual evidence cannot hide that more people are involved. Take Lt. Col. Montri Tolaprasoet, the ISOC officer who provided the vehicle to Lt. Cdr. Virojn. The Thai Nation Party is now pressing that he must inevitably face charges. His claim that he lent the vehicle to a friend without knowing what it would be used for is implausible. The vehicle underwent modifications and had tinted film applied—Lt. Col. Montri must have known. Furthermore, Virojn's team conducted live-fire drills at a military camp beforehand, which everyone would have witnessed. The case is now drawing dangerously close to Lt. Col. Montri, and there is no way to protect him. Additional active-duty military officers may also have evidence linking them to the incident.

Facts and evidence represent case progress that no one can stop. No matter how skillfully Lt. Cdr. Virojn constructs his testimony to obstruct the case, it cannot possibly be compartmentalized. This investigation will inevitably move forward.