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15 Facts About Khattiya Sawasdipol

1.

Khattiya Sawasdipol, alias Se Daeng, was a general in the Royal Thai Army, assigned to the Internal Security Operations Command, a political activist, and a book author.

2.

Khattiya Sawasdipol was killed, apparently by a sniper, while giving an interview during the May 2010 unrest in Bangkok.

3.

Khattiya Sawasdipol came into conflict with the Thai police commander, General Seri Temiyavet, during the investigation of a gambling den in 2006.

4.

General Seri filed a libel suit against Khattiya Sawasdipol, who was arrested and sentenced to prison for four months.

5.

Khattiya Sawasdipol subsequently brought a 600 million baht libel suit against Seri for defamation.

6.

Khattiya Sawasdipol was assigned to the paramilitary unit of Thahan Phran, who fought against communist insurgents in the 1970s.

7.

Khattiya Sawasdipol reported that he took part in the assassination of 20 communists in 1976.

8.

Khattiya Sawasdipol was named the first commander of 30th Cavalry Squadron, Queen's Guard in 1990, and served in the position for one year before being promoted to colonel.

9.

Khattiya Sawasdipol was a supporter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and an opponent of the 19 September 2006 military coup d'etat.

10.

Khattiya Sawasdipol joined the Red Shirt movement that is considered close to Thaksin, protested against the coup and the military-backed government that took power afterwards.

11.

Khattiya Sawasdipol organised the "Ronin Warriors", a group of a few dozen armed militants to fight against Yellow Shirts.

12.

Khattiya Sawasdipol boasted of his fighters terrorising the protesters using M79 grenade launchers, killing one PAD guard and injuring 40.

13.

At 19:20 on 13 May 2010, Khattiya Sawasdipol was shot in the head, apparently by a sniper, at the intersection of the Sala Daeng BTS station, as he was being interviewed by Thomas Fuller of the New York Times.

14.

Khattiya Sawasdipol's death was announced on 17 May 2010 at 09:20.

15.

Khattiya Sawasdipol's claim stated that she and Khattiya first met in 2004 and had been involved in an intimate relationship, before Laddawal gave birth to a boy in 2005.