BANGKOK DANGEROUS
By Terry James
Bangkok, Thailand. 2006.
On the night of September 19th whilst working a protective assignment Hans van Beuge was closely watching his client walk along a darkened street in downtown Bangkok.
All of a sudden, several shadowy figures, all carrying AK 47’s emerged from a laneway and moved rapidly towards his client. As they started to initiate their attack he approvingly watched his Principal draw a Glock pistol, transition into a modified weaver stance and terminate the threat with several rapid, well aimed shots.
Hans was calmly observing the proceedings and not participating because his client, a well known actor, was performing in a scene for an action movie being filmed on location.
Hans was satisfied that through extensive planning and preparation his client was safe and secure.
A few minutes later the presence of many other heavily armed men on the streets of Bangkok would put this confidence to the test.
Protecting a client traveling abroad presents challenges to a security operation. When it is a third world country that is also politically unstable you are faced with additional considerations.
Hans says, “Thomas A. Taylor the author of ‘Dodging Bullets’, the definitive work on Protection methodology and philosophy, recalls in his book an interview with Lewis Merletti the former director of the United States Secret Service. Merletti was asked where the President was safest. His response was “everywhere he goes because of what we do”.
Taylor recounts that Merletti explained that although most people would expect the President to be safest at the White House, by taking a holistic approach to security the Secret Service replicated that security level wherever the President was.
This is the protective philosophy and mindset you have to bring to the planning phase of an operation says Hans. “No matter where your client goes you have to ensure that the environment around the Principal has been made safe for him to travel through.”
“Protecting a famous individual amongst crowds in a third world country does present some unique challenges” says Hans. “After conducting an initial threat assessment, our team put a lot of time into implementing ways to avoid or manage any hazard posed to our client.
In Personal Protection, the Threat/Risk Assessment is the foundation of all aspects of the protective effort. “ We are in the risk reduction business, our objective is to assess all potential risks posed to our client and implement strategies and apply tactics to negate them” says Hans.
“The Threat Assessment takes into consideration political and socio-economic factors from a current and historical context right through to terrorist threats, organized criminal activity, street crime, accommodation, transportation, health, hygiene, emergency medical facilities and the availability of essential goods.”
“We are concerned with anything that may impact the total wellbeing of our client and the smooth running of his daily routine” says Hans.
“The client’s safety is reliant on the decisions you make and the advice you give him, so it’s very important to have done your research. “
In regards to this assignment Hans was particulary concerned about the increasingly frequent terror attacks in the south of Thailand.
Since 2004, separatist in Thailand‘s south had carried out daily attacks including road side bombings and drive by shootings from motorcycles.
“We made the decision that we would definitely not be traveling to the south of Thailand due to the increase in insurgent activity” says Hans.
A decision that proved prudent when in late August, twenty-two banks were bombed in a coordinated attack in the Yala province.
‘Thailand is also regarded as a holiday spot for members of Jemaah Islamiyah. Several high ranking members have been arrested in Bangkok. We felt it would be important for our client to maintain as low a profile as possible so as not to be a target of opportunity” says Hans.
There had also been growing unrest in Bangkok against the perceived corruption of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his ruling Thai Rak Thai party.
“We assessed that given the growing dissent against the Prime Minister and considering that Thailand has had 18 Military coups d’etat (a sudden forced change of government) since 1932, military intervention seemed imminent”.
“When a coup happens there can often be a clash between opposing armed factions and violence can spill out into the community. However, in Thailand, most coups have been non-violent affairs so we felt as long as we had certain contingencies in place the risk was acceptable.”
Hans engaged the Thai Special Branch Police in the protection of his client. The hiring of Police in Thailand for private protection is an accepted part of the system there. “We had three Special Branch officers and two Police Motorcycle officers working with us around the clock. Apart from the obvious help in providing added security layers to motorcade and location security they also greatly facilitated moving us through Bangkok’s congested traffic. This not only saves an enormous amount of traveling time but also reduces the vulnerability that a stationary motorcade poses.”
Hans also developed contacts within the Thai Military Directorate of Intelligence. As in most third world countries real power tends to lie in the hands of the Military rather than the Police. The Police are a valuable asset to have but having contacts within the Military gives greater dimension to your intelligence gathering capabilities.
Hans claims that whilst traveling abroad making contact with friendly Western Embassies will also greatly assist the protective effort. Making contact with the duty officers will reward you with updates on the political situation of the country involved and developments within the region in general.
“A couple of weeks after we arrived there was an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Thaksin. We were still confident there would be no major civil unrest but we certainly increased our options to help facilitate any unscheduled departure”.
“We had obtained Sat phones so that we had communications in case of a breakdown in the telecommunication system. Arrangements had been made for the client to be immediately taken to one of several safe havens (including Embassies) if the situation warranted. We had air, land and water options on standby for an immediate evacuation if needed.
On the night of the 19th September, filming had only just started when Hans received a phone call from a Thai military contact. His contact informed him that tanks and heavy armor were moving out of their barracks and into the city which was a likely precursor to a coup.
Hans immediately briefed his client. He advised him against being out in the streets especially as they were filming scenes that involved firing weapons.
“With a large number of troops and armor descending into the city, all of whom would be apprehensive about encountering opposition, I didn’t want my client running around with a gun in his hand while stuntmen were firing full auto weapons at him .Although I was only concerned about my client’s safety, my client was more concerned about the safety of the film crew and the other actors.”
The client requested that the production cease work for the evening and instructed the crew to return to the safety of their homes.
“After my client was satisfied that the crew were going to be safe, I managed to finally evacuate him back to his accommodation.”
Hans had been utilizing both vehicular and boat transportation whilst in Bangkok, varying the means for security and convenience.
As their Hotel fronted onto the main river in Bangkok, anytime the film set happened to be near a waterway they had a boat on standby as an additional option.
“We were filming on streets adjacent to the river that night so we utilized the boat to avoid the military presence on the streets.”
After consultations with the duty officers at several embassies Hans decided it was prudent for his client to leave the country. Less than three hours after the tanks rolled into Bangkok the client and his family was safely on their way to a politically stable neighboring country.
Hans determined the risk of civil unrest to be low but had other factors to consider including the possible disruption to the client’s and his families future schedule.
We had to consider the possibility of the Military junta shutting down airspace and as my client had commitments in Europe in the next fortnight
it was imperative to have his travel options under our control
As events unfolded over the next 24 hours it seemed that General Sonthi’s coup would be bloodless.
The highly revered constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej gave his blessing to the military junta.
“The Kings word carries the weight of divine mandate as far as the Thai people are concerned”, says Hans.’’ Once he endorsed the actions of the coup leaders the chance of violence happening was extremely remote.”
Hans advised his client that it would be safe and convenient to return to Thailand and for the production to resume work. Filming finished uneventfully four weeks later.
Hans advises that a Threat Assessment is not static. It has to be a fluid entity changing and evolving as more information comes to hand and as situations change.
“When in a foreign country it is essential for a protective agent to take the time to cultivate local contacts. The ongoing intelligence gathering and liaison building with local authorities really pay’s off. Good, on the ground human intelligence greatly assists you with monitoring and predicting potential problems within the local environment.”
“As my colleague Paul Jordan, one of the worlds most experienced HRE specialists always emphasizes, when faced with any obstacle, you must adapt and overcome”. Comprehensive planning makes it easier to adapt to any event as you have already anticipated it happening.
Prepare, prevent and protect it’s as simple as that”, say’s Hans
