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Published on August 4, 2007

The panel will comprise eight or nine members, who will be given full authority to probe all the deaths with no time frame, Justice Minister Charnchai Likhitjittha said.

It will also be authorised to grant compensation to the families of those slain.

Charnchai said the delay in setting up the committee - Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont approved it almost two months ago - was due to difficulty in selecting its chairman. "And finally, Khanit has accepted the nomination to head the panel," he said.

Khanit yesterday declined to comment on his chairmanship, saying that he would give an interview after his formal appointment next week.

Meanwhile, Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand, acting director of the Justice Ministry's Central Institute of Forensic Science Thailand, said she thought the committee would work mainly to compensate the kin of those affected rather than compile facts and evidence of the killings.

"It is almost impossible now to produce evidence and scientific proof to implicate wrongdoers responsible for the killings, since the crimes were committed many years ago," she said. Each of the cases should be reopened and investigated thoroughly to find what the motives were and discover whether any evidence remains, and then be recorded as case studies," she recommended.