BuffHello Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Laotian royal couple from Fairview slain in northern Thailand by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS published January 18, 2006 10:52 am BANGKOK, Thailand ? A Lao-American couple living in Fairview who claim to be members of a Lao royal family were shot to death Wednesday in northeastern Thailand, police said. (For video from Thailand television click here. Anouwong Sethathirath IV and Oulayvanh Sethathirath, 49 and 38 years old respectively, were killed at a Buddhist monastery in Nong Khai, near the border with Laos, said police Lt. Jeerawat Thammasorn, who was unwilling to give any further details about the victims. No arrests or suspects have been announced in the case. A Web site operated by the couple, www.sethathirath.com, identifies Anouwong as a prince and Oulayvanh as a princess, and says that Sethathirath is the royal line of Laos' Sisattanakhanahut kingdom, also known as Lan Xang. The couple lived in Fairview. Both were U.S. citizens. Lt. Jeerawat said they were shot in a pavilion at the monastery at about 10 a.m. The Thai television station ITV reported that witnesses said that gunmen wearing coats and black sunglasses walked into the pavilion and killed them. Nong Khai is 320 miles north of Bangkok. The couple was not directly related to Savang Vatthana, the last king of Laos, who was forced to abdicate his throne after a communist takeover of his country in 1975. The Sethathirath family last ruled a part of Laos in the 19th century. According to a profile of the couple published earlier this month in the Asheville Citizen-Times, they were to attend a cultural conference in Thailand this month for the Lan Xang people, and had frequently visited Thailand, especially the northeast, whose residents are ethnically related to the Lao. Anouwong, the descendant of the Sethathirath line and who also has the Western name Phillip McRowan, married Oulayvanh, also known as Ashley, in 1987. It said that Anouwong worked as a pathologist's assistant in a local hospital, while Oulayvanh was studying for a degree in international studies at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Although some refugees from Laos have been involved in violent activities against the country's communist government, the couple was not known to be involved with them. Most exiled members of the late king Savang Vatthana live in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Rival T-shirt vendors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 This fella was a genuine prince, since all in the male line were called Chao. He was descended from the Prince of Wiengchan*, who rebelled against Rama III and was defeated. Sawang Wattana was of the royal family of Luang Prabang, who were made rulers of all Laos by the French. Wonder what happened. Clearly an execution. *Chao Anuwong. The main street in the Lao capital is named for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiLuk Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Seems that the communists in Lao believed their claim of royalty. So naturally the communists executed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Fairview? There's a lot of places called Fairview in the US. I see they were attending a Lan Xang conference in Isarn. Maybe they were getting too popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 p.s. Not good for one's karma to murder people in a Buddhist monastery ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 THE NATION 19 January 2006 Link with anti-communist activities possible motive for murder of Laotian couple - A Laotian American couple apparently of Lao royal descent who were shot dead in northeastern Thailand might have been targeted by Laos on suspicions that they were working against the communist regime, police said Thursday. An official at the Laotian Embassy in Bangkok denied his government played any role in Wednesday's slaying near the Thai-Laos border. U.S. Embassy officials could not be reached for comment. Chao Anouwong Sethathirath IV, 49, and Oulayvanh Sethathirath, 38, were killed at a Buddhist monastery in Nong Khai. Witnesses reported seeing two gunmen approach the couple and shoot them in a Nong Hkai temple at about 10 a.m of Wednesday. "The gunmen are of Thai nationality, but we believe they were hired by secret agents who support the Laos government because Laotian government is always suspicious of Laotians from America," Thai police Lt. Col. Santhipab Meephol said. "They think Laotians from America are involved in anti-government activities." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 Americans trying to bring down a foreign government? That doesn't sound right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 Yeah. How dare they interfer with the wonderful benevolent government of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos. The nerve of some of these Laotians ... Bet they even wanted free elections or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 Is the US in the business of reinstalling monarchies now? Slippery slope that. Or maybe a nice little civil war in Laos is just what SE Asia needs? Maybe spill over the borders? Nice headache for Vietnam and China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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