Free The Last Executioner by Chavoret Jaruboon, Nicola Pierce Page A

sentenced to 15 years and Narat Oonkaew was sentenced to 25 years. Their prison terms were effective immediately. Sane Oonkaew, however, was sentenced to death by General Thanom Kittikajorn, head of the Revolution Committee. Once the execution order had been issued, the Director of National Security, Prapas Jarusatian, instructed the Ministry of Interior to carry it out immediately. The location of the execution was Bang Kwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi and the date was 9 February 1972.

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    I was excited. I had been working in Bang Kwang for less than 20 days and already I was going to witness an execution. The prison had an execution time-table which impacted on the normal routine. The execution team of ten to 12 officers was only announced the morning of an execution. The various roles included executioner, escort, gun adjuster and administrative—those two were to take the fingerprints, photograph the prisoner and assemble the records. Letters had to be written to certain officials, asking them to come and witness the execution. These guests could be an inspector from the DOC (Department of Corrections), the Governor of Nonthaburi, the chief of police and Attorney General in Nonthaburi, lawyers, and representatives from the Criminal Records section of the police departments.
    Keeping detailed records and properly filing them away is imperative to the process. When a prisoner is sentenced to death we take their fingerprints and photos, which are sent to the Criminal Records section for verification. Their records are also checked for previous offences. Then all the information is sent to the DOC. 60 days after sentencing the condemned can submit an application for a more lenient penalty. The case will be discussed by a committee and if it fails the execution process resumes. The Ministry of Interior briefs the DOC which in turn contacts Bang Kwang, who usually receives the execution order at approximately 9am that morning. The letters go out to the witnesses and the Chaplain or abbot is told that his services will be required. He will perform the last rites.
    Lunch is usually served an hour early, which means that all the prisoners know when there is to be an execution. They are then locked into their cells before the officials arrive. At 4pm the escorts will go to collect the prisoner, whose fingerprints and photos are taken again. Then the execution order is read to them and they have to sign it. After that they are offered paper and pen to write out their last letter or will for their families, followed by their last meal and then the last rites. By 5 or 6pm everything should be in place for the execution itself. During the reign of the Revolution Committee summary executions were announced on TV and radio after the evening news. On 8 February at 8pm it was broadcast to the nation that Sane Oonkaew was to be executed the following day, for the rape and murder of a young girl.
    The next day the prison was surrounded by journalists and camera crews, all desperate for a shot of the condemned man. Some had even climbed on to the roof of the Buddhist temple, the temple where relatives usually cremated the body 24 hours after execution. The atmosphere in the prison was frantic, at least among the wardens. High ranking officers from the Department of Corrections, and other organizations, were coming to see the execution and the prison officers were running around making sure that everything was perfect.
    The quietest part of the prison was the six wings; the inmates were silent and watchful. Officers were on high alert and took extra precautions in the face of possible riots and protests. There was also the fear that with all the fuss some gangsters on the outside might take the opportunity to break in and release their friends—especially those on death row.
    At 4.30am I stood on a box to the left of the entrance to the security tower to allow my colleagues to search me for illegal substances. As they patted me down I