A Lao dissident shot dead in Ubon
Ubon Ratchathani
A Lao dissident who was said to have a connection to a raid on the Lao southern custom checkpoint of Vang Tao in 2000 has been shot dead in the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, police said on Wednesday.
Paitoon Malavan, 61, a resident of Ubon Ratchathani's Sirindhorn district, was killed in a gun attack at 8pm on Tuesday while cooking in his house.Two gunmen sneaked into his backyard and shot at him, accord¬ing to his wife Bualean Malavan. She said Paitoon fled from the house and ran across the road to his sister's house where he collapsed and died. A spent AK47 bullet was found at the scene. Paitoon, who was hit in the neck, was a close associate of Sisouk Sayaseng, a suspected leader of the attack on the Vang Tao checkpoint in Laos' Champasak province in July 2000. Sisouk was shot by two masked gunmen at his home in Ubon's Sirindhorn district in November 2003. Previously, Sukan Techakampu, an excaptain in the former Lao regime, and his wife Chantorn were killed in the province on May 11. He was also a close friend of Sisouk. Bualean said Paitoon knew his life was in danger after the death of Sukan as he realised a group of killers were on the loose with instructions to eradicate all Lao dissidents. His name was on a death list next to Sukan's, she said. Police arrested two suspects, Arthit Klinchan and Suwat Suthang, last week in connection with Sukan's murder and disclosed that the two were also involved in the assassination of LaoAmerican social activists Anouvong and Oulayvanh Sethathirath in Nong Khai on January 18. The couple, from North Carolina, claimed to be descendants of a Lao king. Police said the two gunmen were hired to kill all Lao dissidents in the kingdom and had murdered 17 people so far. The Nation
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