18 April 2001 :

The government executed five condemned prisoners, four of them major drug dealers, at the Bang Kwang maximum security prison and for the first time, televised their final hours up to the point the blindfolds were put on. Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon indicated there were plans to carry out weekly executions of condemned drug offenders. Thammarak Issarangkunna Ayutthaya, the Prime Minister's office minister in charge of illicit drugs issues, said the message to all drug traffickers was clear - their path would end in death.
Four drug traffickers - Lee Yuan-kuang, 47, a Hong Kong Chinese; Chu Chin-kuay, 33, a Taiwanese; Boonkerd Jitpranee, 40, (found with over 30kg of heroin) and Vichien Saenmahayak, 42, (arrested with 50,000 methamphetamine pills) were shot dead.A fifth convict, Romali Tayeh, 47, found guilty of murder, was also put to death.
Gen Thammarak said the executions were in compliance with the justice system and necessary in light of the serious threat posed to the country by the drug scourge. "You simply cannot look at executions from a human rights aspect alone. You have to consider the pain and suffering caused by drug abuse to our youth," said Gen Thammarak, who witnessed the executions.
Five other condemned drug traffickers were executed earlier in 2001. Three more are next in line.
The Corrections Department for the first time allowed the media into Bang Kwang prison to witness the executions. Dozens of reporters and cameramen showed up.
Saowanee Limmanont, director of Amnesty International Thailand, said she just wondered what death row was for, and if it really helped reduce crime. "If its purpose is to scare other criminals, then we have to look back at the past record and realise the number of crimes has never decreased although many convicts have been executed," she said.
Pairoj Polphet, of the Union for Civil Liberty, did not regard execution as the solution. He said it would only add to the feeling of hatred and revenge in the public mind, which was against Buddhist principles. "In my opinion execution should be taken off the books, since every life has its worth no matter how bad the person is," he said.