Bangkok hitman's action publicly signalled

By SCOTT MacLEOD

A full-page advertisement in a Thai newspaper was the first hint that Ian John Travis was a marked man.

The advertisement, which ran in The Nation on January 23, was placed by a fellow crime linchpin with whom the New Zealander had forged a bitter hatred.

It wished Travis well, but those in the Thai underworld saw it as a veiled threat.

Thailand was too small a place for Travis and American fraudster James Muller. Eight days ago, a hitman shot dead Eketahuna-born Travis in Bangkok.

The Herald found six people who knew Travis as a friend, legendary crime figure or tyrannical underworld boss. All refused to be named.

One picture was of a free spirit whose past was dotted with a string of daredevil exploits, but by far the most intriguing stories concerned the last six months of Travis' life.

Two sources with inside knowledge of the company Foreign Currency International said it was run by Travis and Muller.

They described a rip-off operation that occupied four floors of an office block in central Bangkok and employed up to 400 people at a time, recruited from as far away as Scotland.

Many employees were "openers". They scoured New Zealand and Australian phone books, rang people at random and offered futures in petrol or euro currency at US$5000 ($11,650) or US$10,000 ($23,300) a pop.

Once hooked, investors were passed on to senior traders and most never saw their money again.

The NZ Securities Commission said Asian scams such as Travis' creamed at least $13 million from New Zealanders in 18 months, and one investor lost $800,000.

Herald sources, including a Bangkok venture capitalist with inside knowledge of Foreign Currency, said many staff thought they worked for an honest business.

Those who knew the truth were intimidated by Travis, who was said to have once walked into the Foreign Currency building with a sub-machine-gun.

Foreign Currency bribed officials to be left alone, but was forced to re-group at times under new names such as Global Options Trading.

Travis and Muller fell out towards the end of last year.

The end, when it came, was dramatic. Travis fled Foreign Currency, taking 4 million baht ($216,000) and a client list that he used to set up the rival firm Platinum Asia.

Herald sources said Travis then ratted on his former friend and Foreign Currency's offices were raided by police, who carried boxes of documents from one floor of the building but missed the foreign workers on other floors.

Incensed, Muller placed the advertisement. It said a colleague had left Foreign Currency and "we wish you the best".

Everyone knew what that meant, said one source.

"When Travis went down I don't think there was anyone in the industry who didn't know who did it."

A hitman ambushed Travis and sprayed him with bullets, but the New Zealander stayed alive long enough to stagger home.

Surawatpong Ratchadpirom, aged 28, was charged with the shooting and Sayant Piyawat, 46, with driving the getaway car. Police said they were Muller's bodyguards, and were paid 240,000 baht ($13,000) to make the hit. Muller has yet to be caught.

Why did Travis pick a fight with such a dangerous foe? Opinion was divided, but one theory was offered by the venture capitalist.

"Travis was a guy that didn't have a pot to piss in a couple of years ago and then suddenly did," he said.

"He wanted to rule Bangkok, basically."

A close friend of Travis offered a different view of a man.

He said Travis loved the big german shepherd dog he brought back from Cambodia, only became embroiled in scams in the past year, was witty and smart, and was a huge fan of the All Blacks.

The friend said his short epitaph that summed up Travis: "He ran 200m with five bullets in him."