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

noticed a temporary sign at the gate: ‘No officer is allowed to leave Bank Kwang at this time. Please remain calm.’ All prison rules were being followed to the letter that day. At 5am, 15 armed police left Phrapradaeng station in a van owned by the Royal Thai Police to pick up Sane at Samutprakarn Provincial Prison. A police car with siren blaring led the way.
    Sane was probably the only one who didn’t know he was about to die. I heard that he remained silent throughout the journey and mostly just gazed at his open palms, possibly trying to gauge his destiny from his life line. We Thais believe in fate and destiny. The life line is the line that extends from the edge of the palm above the thumb, and curves like a rainbow towards the wrist.
    At 5.50am the van arrived at Bang Kwang Prison. Sane was now under the jurisdiction of the Execution Supervision Committee which was appointed by the Ministry of Interior. He was met at the prison entrance by the then prison Superintendent Slab Visutthimuk, Sompong Choomworathayee, Governor of Nonthaburi and prison doctor Dr Sujarit Pamornbood.
    While the van was briefly delayed at the entrance a reporter ran to the window and asked a visibly surprised Sane if he had any last words for his family. The reporter repeated his question to which Sane smiled and replied: ‘Tell my parents to come visit me’.
    At 6am the prison Chaplain, Phra Mahasai Thanamangkaro, then abbot of the temple, arrived to perform Sane’s last rites. Ten minutes later, Sane’s fingerprints were taken for the execution records, and the Superintendent read the out the execution order to him. He exploded with rage and showered the prison staff with threats and expletives.
    ‘I didn’t fucking do it. I don’t know a god damn thing about it. I will haunt you motherfuckers throughout all your lives. Let me see the face of the detective in charge! Where’s the son of a bitch?’
    The prison and police officers cowed under his fury and moved closer together. What if he was telling the truth and he was innocent? The detective who led the investigation assured us that that wasn’t the case.
    ‘Sane is not innocent. He has raped countless girls in his village. Most of his victims were afraid of his influential father so he thought he would get away scot free. He committed this particular crime with his kid brother; we have collected a substantial amount of evidence against him. The bastard won’t make any more trouble for these people.’
    His words calmed us officers while Sane continued to shout and scream obscenities at us. Without thinking I approached Sane and spoke quietly to him.
    ‘Calm down. Stop shouting and pull yourself together. You can’t do anything else at this point now. Just think of it as bad karma coming back to you for what you have done. If you are positive when you ‘go’ you will end up in a good place, so empty your mind of anger and negativity.’
    In Buddhism it is believed that if you are thinking positive when you die you will be born in to a good place in your next life. Sane refused to shut up completely, though he did simmer down a little.
    At 6.30am he was offered papers and pencil to write his last will but he turned away saying, ‘I’m not fucking doing it! I’ve got nothing to give anyone’.
    After a couple of minutes he changed his mind and asked to write the following letter to his father;

    Dear Dad,

    I just want to say goodbye to you. I hope you won’t be too sad. Just think of it as a natural occurrence, we’re bound to birth, age, be hurt and die anyway. Please look after my wife and don’t let her struggle. Tell her not to take another husband. Don’t bury my body, keep it for three years. Don’t forget, Dad, to visit Narat as often as you can.

    When he was finished, the prison officers brought him to the Chaplain to hear the words of Buddha for one last time and ask for forgiveness. Sane refused to participate or sit on the floor. He was still furious and