Fence row; hapless Dad; too many wives; fatal itch

He knew no boundaries

Suspect Somphong

A property dispute which a Nonthaburi man says festered for 37 years came to a fatal head when relatives next door painted over what he says was his side of the fence.

Rattanathibet police nabbed Somphong Chumpengphan, 74, for shooting to death his brother-in-law, Uthai Wallarach, also 74, with a shotgun.

Earlier, he slapped the victim’s wife as she was painting the fence of her property, which is next to his own.

Patchira Jarupongsakul, 71, the victim's wife, said the row started when Mr Somphong demanded to know why she was painting on his side.

He grabbed the brush and painted on what he said was his fence post, and even drew a line with a blue pen pointing to a boundary marker, to show her where his land started, she said.

Ms Patchira said she, her daughter and a tradesman had been painting there for the past few days, but this was the first they had heard from him.

“We argued and he hit me in the face. He knocked off my glasses and bruised my left eye and ear. I called my husband to tell him what happened and he turned up on his motorbike.

“He shouted at Somphong, ‘So are you now a thug as well?’

“Somphong pulled out his gun and shot him,” she said.

The scene outside the house

The two families have a history of bad blood going back 37 years. That was when Mr Somphong, by his own account, was left out of pocket when he hired builders to put up Uthai’s house but Uthai, elder brother of his wife, refused to pay for the work.

“I had a house built for him for just 250,000 baht; it is now worth 400,000 baht. I asked for equipment and labour, with no profit added, but the other side refused to pay,” he told police. The latest row was over the boundary line. Both sides disagree over where the marker lies.

Mr Somphong said he argued with Uthai’s wife over the boundary and suggested they call the authorities to have it measured properly. “When Uthai turned up, he charged at me. I warned him I had a gun but he kept coming, so I shot him in self-defence.”

Ms Patchira said the attack was unprovoked. Worasamon Siriwachirowat, 49, her daughter, said she tussled with Mr Somphong after he hit her Mum. “He pointed at me in the face as if I was going to be next. I said I wasn’t scared and we struggled for a bit before someone separated us,” she said.

When her father turned up, he went to talk to Mr Somphong, but the killer charged out of the house with his gun, she said. “I thought he was just threatening Dad with the gun so I went to protect him. However, the bullet grazed my arm and hit Dad in the heart.”

Ms Patchira said she reckons Mr Somphong planned to shoot her husband as he barely gave him a chance. Police charged Mr Somphong with premeditated murder and firearms offences.

One motive after another

Adisak in custody

A Chon Buri man with a history of mental illness stabbed his father in a frenzied attack for getting too close to his girlfriend.

Bang Lamung police nabbed Adisak, 31, after he turned up covered in blood to hand himself in. Officers saw him walking about in a daze and asked him what was wrong.

“He was lingering about the flag pole out front when officers went to ask and he told them he had just attacked his Dad,” one news report said.

Adisak left his father, Udom, 45, lying naked in front of their two-storey townhouse behind Bo Bae Na Kluea market, about 1km from the station.

The victim was found with seven stab wounds to the abdomen, left side of the chest, right side of the trunk, and in the leg just by his genitals.

Udom is taken to hospital

Pornnapat Rodsupa, 18, Udom's granddaughter, said she was in the kitchen in front of the house and her granddad taking a shower at the rear when she heard the victim yelling and calling out for help.

She saw her grandfather lying in a pool of blood after Adisak stabbed him.

“I grabbed my motorbike and headed to the station to alert the police. When I looked behind, I saw my uncle following me on his own bike. I stopped and called out for help, but my uncle kept going towards the station,” she told reporters.

Adisak, she said, was mentally ill. “He thinks he’s the son of King Naresuan who drove out the Myanmar invaders. He doesn’t like Myanmar folk, and reckons granddad is one of those, so attacked him,” she said.

Pol Col Navin Sinthurat, head of the station, said Adisak told them that he stabbed his Dad with a fruit knife because he was drawing too close to his girlfriend.

A drugs test turned up no illegal substances though Adisak had been receiving care as a psychiatric patient.

His family say Adisak was sent to drug rehab following an overdose in 2016. He had been ill ever since the drug episode but had shown no previous signs of violence.

Speaking to reporters, Adisak gave yet another account of his actions, saying the attack stemmed from the many beatings his father gave him when he was a kid.

He also claimed Udom was not his real father, and that his girlfriend was an actress.

Udom is in ICU on a breathing machine but out of danger. Police charged Adisak with assault causing serious injury.

Spousal tensions prove too much

The house where a hill tribe man killed his wife.

A hilltribe man in Chiang Rai killed one of his two wives then took his own life out of remorse.

Surachai Licha, 26, shot himself after declaring before shocked police and locals: “If my wife has to die, I would ask to die after her.”

Muang police turned up at his bamboo house earlier after learning from his younger brother that Surachai had shot dead his wife, Namee, aged 18 or 19. Surachai lived with both his wives, media reports said, along with other members of the family.

Her blood-stained body was found on her bed. He shot her in the right thigh after an argument and efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.

Surakij Licha, his younger brother, said Surachai and his sister-in-law were drinking beer when he and the other occupants of the household went to bed.

“Shortly after I heard them argue followed by the shot,” he said. “I rushed out, saw Namee and called rescue workers.”

As rescue workers were trying to help the victim, Surachai raced out of the house and declared he wanted to take his own life. “Police and locals followed him out and tried to talk him out of it, without success.”

Surachai shot himself in the right forehead with his 9mm calibre handgun.

Media reports said the stress of living together with his two wives was too much. The women in his life were unhappy about sharing him, leading to rows.

He shot his “second wife”, they said, then took his own life after realising what he had done.

How not to clean a gun

Jian Wannapong shot himself here

An elderly man in Chon Buri shot himself dead with his loaded revolver after absent-mindedly pointing it towards his head to scratch his ear, his wife says.

Nong Prue police say Jian Wannapong, 91, shot himself with his Smith and Wesson .38 revolver while cleaning it.

His wife of more than 50 years, Lamyai Boonchu, aged 75, who was sitting chatting to him, said her husband cleaned his gun every two days, a long-standing ritual.

Bare-chested and wearing shorts, he was cleaning the gun again on the day of the incident when he pointed the muzzle of the gun towards his right ear, presumably to scratch it, and accidentally pulled the trigger.

The gun went off, shooting him in the head.

Ms Lamyai raced over and shook his body, but her husband failed to stir. She contacted relatives, who called the police.

Officers say it looks like an accident but sent the body for an autopsy at the local hospital.

Mum has son killed, drug party sours, granny chains up boy

Time to hire a hitman

Weerapan Pothong

The mother of a violent druggie in Loei province admits arranging for a hitman to kill her son, as she was fed up with his constant attacks.

Kaew Phothong, 57, gave herself up to Chiang Kan police last week after her son, tattoo-clad Weerapan Pothong, 31, was shot dead outside his house.

The gunman shot him once with a 12 gauge shotgun pistol before fleeing under cover of darkness. The victim didn’t see it coming, as he was sitting facing towards the house firing up a wood stove at the time.

Kaew Phothong

Shortly after, his mother, Ms Kaew, accompanied by her elder brother and uncle of the victim, Sarn Phothong, 65, who hired the gunman, and Somsa Saenjaiwut, 64, the man he hired, handed themselves in to police. They felt guilty about what they had done so decided to come forward, reports said.

Weerapan attacked his mother so often that she was forced to flee home and had nowhere reliable where she could live, she told police. 

“I had to move about constantly, because wherever I moved, he would follow and ask for money. If I refused he would go berserk, smashing up my belongings and assaulting me,” she said.

Sarn Phothong

Ms Kaew says she consulted her brother, who agreed to hire a gunman to finish him off. They paid the gunman, who was known to the couple, 25,000 baht for the job. However, after doing the deed they felt guilty, so contacted the police.

Chatuphat Singchum, 26, the victim’s ex-wife who visited Weerapan’s mother at the station following her arrest, said she too was a victim of Weerapan’s violent behaviour.

“Weerapan’s Mum told me she had kept a lid on her fears for a long time, but finally reached breaking point,” she said.

Ms Chatuphat said she was together with Weerapan for 5-6 years. They have two children but split up a year ago, because lately he had been going berserk and hitting her, just as he did his Mum.He was psychologically ill and heard things, she said. He had been treated at a psychiatric hospital twice, to no avail.

“He was a heavy drug user, which sent him mad,” she said. The three suspects were charged jointly in his premeditated murder.

Down the stairs we go

Police retrace the youngsters’ steps at the condo.

Police are sceptical about claims that a motorcycle delivery guy in Bangkok accidentally took his own life, playing with a friend’s gun at a city condo.

Three youngsters who met victim Veem “Mo” Samutkham, 20, for a ketamine party at a Bangkok Noi condo claim he picked up the room owner’s .38 revolver, played with it, and accidentally shot himself in the head.

A tenant called police to the scene, where they found the three friends present at the time of the shooting had dragged the victim’s body from the fifth floor where the incident occurred down to the first floor.

They did not immediately call for help but took his body down the stairs, supposedly so he could be taken to hospital. However, he died later from his injuries.

Police charged the room owner, identified as Khomkrit, 22, with firearms offences and carelessness causing death. The other two, Athit, 22, and Natthida, 21, were charged with firearms offences.

Police are awaiting tests for gunpowder residue on the trio’s hands and drugs in their system, and say the list of charges could grow. Officers asked the court to detain them further as the probe continues.

A rescue worker who lives in the building, Anirut, said a neighbour saw the youngsters dragging the body down the stairs and alerted him. He went to ask if he could help.

Anirut said: “I asked one of them what happened. At first, he did not reply, so I pressed the point and he said: ‘We warned him not to play with the gun.’ ”

Initially, the group claimed the gun belonged to the victim, only to change their story later. The owner, Khomkrit, admitted the weapon was his, reports said.

The victim’s mother, Thaworn, 59, said she didn’t know her son had been to see friends that night, as he had moved out to live with his girlfriend some time ago. However, he was a timorous type and did not carry or own a firearm.

“He only has to argue with his girlfriend and he cries. But even if he did shoot himself as they claim, why did they drag his body down the stairs?” she asked reporters.

“My son also had bruising under one eye when his body was found, which makes me suspicious.”

Khomkrit’s mother, 45, unnamed in reports, said her son denied the group had argued with the victim.

“He says they have known each other for ages, and they tried to help him after he shot himself,” she said.

The group wanted to apologise to the victim’s body but were afraid his family would not welcome them at the funeral. The case continues.

Granny can’t cope alone

The concrete beam where the boy was chained.

A nine-year-old boy in Khon Kaen has been separated from his grandmother after she was found dragging him about the street in chains.

A local last week alerted the Pen Neung Foundation after seeing the child, Nong Pond, being led by his grandmother on chains in Nam Yuen district as they picked up old bottles for resale.

Adam Pathan said he witnessed the disturbing scene as he was visiting a car repair shop.

“As I was standing behind my pickup I could hear the old woman arguing with the child. I saw her whip the lad with the chain. The boy was so scared he wet himself and cried. She carried on hitting him until they were almost back home,” he told reporters.

Mr Adam decided he should step in. “I walked over there, took the child’s hand and led him back to the shop. I found some pliers and cut the chains from his wrist. The kid was still terrified,” he told reporters.

The grandmother walked back and started abusing Mr Adam for interfering. “She accused me of taking drugs and said she’d report me for taking the kid away,” he said.

Mr Adam contacted the foundation, which has sent Nong Pond to a children’s home.

The old woman, he said, was leading the boy around like a dog and treating him cruelly. Anyone who saw it would be horrified.

“I asked the child whether he wanted to go home and he said he didn’t. He said his grandmother beats him and abuses him regularly,” he said.

Reporters spoke to the old woman, Jumthong, 66, who said she has raised the child alone since he was born. His parents had broken up. His mother was taking drugs during her pregnancy and is now in jail.

“The child likes getting out at night so I chain his arms and legs to a concrete pole inside the house,” she said. “I release him if he needs to relieve himself.”

She also chains him up to make sure he does his schoolwork. Mrs Jumthong said she sends the child to school every day and claims she bought the chains only the day before the pair were spotted by Mr Adam.

Nong Pond said his grandmother hits him with pieces of wood and whips him with the chain.

Welfare workers say they spotted sores on his arms and say he looked thin for his age, though his grandmother says he has asthma and was born prematurely, so is frail and weak.

Village head Mannerat Kamnoothai, 50, said she visits the house regularly as Mrs Jumthong has psychiatric problems. She also suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure.

While she did not know about the chains, she had previously heard Mrs Jumthong say she wanted to buy a rope and tie the boy up. She advised against it.

The child’s fate has yet to be decided, and no details were available on any punishment to be meted out to Mrs Jumthong.

Killer thug strikes again, twins from Hell, drunken slaying

Won’t take no for an answer

Jiradet ‘Tom’ Thongyim

An ex-con in Kanchanaburi, out of jail a year after brutally murdering an old woman, has slain two more people in an unsuccessful pursuit of a local teen.

Laokwan police nabbed Jiradet “Tom” Thongyim, 36, for killing two people in a local forest. They were among a group of five sitting having a chat, including two teens who were spared his wrath.

He shot to death Sermsak “Tar” Khunklang, 38, stepfather of the young teen he fancied, known as Neuy, and a farm hand, Boonsong Srithaptim, 50, who happened to be passing and witnessed the shooting.

Neuy’s mother, Chompunuch “Mod” Kaewsuksai, 33, the fifth member of the group, like the teens survived the ordeal, though only because the killer said he still had use for her.

She said the killer entered the forest where the group were sitting. Ms Chompunuch and her partner, Sermsak, would gather old wood in the forest and burn it in a pit to create charcoal for sale.

The teens, who did not know the killer and were going steady, also visited the spot occasionally for some privacy.

“Jiradet had turned up at Neuy’s place the night before, revving his motorcycle engine and demanding access to the girl. However, Neuy was wary of his poor behaviour and wanted nothing to do with him,” Ms Chompunuch said.

The following morning he turned up in the forest and again demanded that he be allowed to see the girl.

When Sermsak, a chicken farmer who has been seeing Ms Chompunuch for the past few months, refused, Jiradet pulled out his 9mm calibre handgun and threatened him.

When Sermsak again refused to tell him where the girl was, he opened fire, shooting him three times in the face and body.

Ms Chompunuch said the other victim, Boonsong, who worked on a sugar farm plantation and collected items from the forest for sale, happened to be passing and saw the events unfold. Jiradet shot him three times without fanfare, no doubt to silence a potential witness.

“Jiradet told me he had thought of shooting me too but had decided to spare my life because I could still be of some use to him,” she told reporters.

The killer asked her to take him back to her place, after which he fled on his bike. Police caught him later at his home about 3km away.

He made her swear not to tell anyone, but she was too scared to stay at the house alone, so contacted her aunt, who alerted police.

Ms Chompunuch said Jiradet’s interest in her daughter, who lives with the aunt, started in September.

He disappeared for a couple of months and then returned, when he stepped up his advances. He would turn up at her aunt’s place several times a night, demanding to see her.

The aunt, known as Tim, 59, said Jiradet tried to force his way in to see the girl the night before the shooting. “Nong Neuy called her mother, asking her to come around and look after her,” she said.

Media reports say Jiradet was released from jail last year after serving just five years of a 25-year sentence for murdering an Isan woman known as Yai Saow.

“Yai Saow was raising goats for his family. He was hooked on drugs and asked her for money. She refused so he hit her and stuffed her wounded body in a charcoal pit and threw a bunch of tyres on top,” one news report said.

“He lit the fire and burnt her alive. Her screams could be heard nearby. His father saw it, and called the police,” the report said.

“Yai Saow’s family left the area following her killing, as Jiradet’s family has influence in those parts and everyone was scared of him,” one relative added.

It is unclear how Jiradet met Neuy, but he quickly offered a generous dowry if her mother would consent to their marriage.

He referred to Ms Chompunuch as “Mum”, as in mother-in-law, and to Sermsak, his victim, as his foster father.

Police said Jiradet believed Sermsak was standing in the way of his relationship with Neuy so killed him. They charged him with two counts of premeditated murder.

‘Show us your belt buckle’

The twins charged with murder

Two Bangkok twins with a history of getting into shootouts with their rivals have been charged with the premeditated murder of a teen they killed but did not know.

Prawet police nabbed Yotsakorn “Not” Krasaeng and Yotsaporn “Note” Krasaeng, both 19, for shooting to death Koonsap “Nammon” Patnawas, also 19.

The victim was on his way to Seacon shopping centre in Srinakarin Road with friends when the twins stopped him at soi On Nut 70 and asked where he studied.

They also asked to see his school belt buckle, which would tell them what tech school he attended, if any, and so whether he was a rival to their own.

Koonsap, whose mother says he quit studies at the end of third form, told the boys he was not studying anywhere.

According to news reports, Yotsakorn, who was sitting behind his brother on their motorcycle, pulled out a Smith and Wesson .32 calibre handgun and shot the teen in the abdomen. A friend took Koonsap to hospital but he died from his injuries.

The twins fled the scene and ditched the gun by the side of a canal in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan.

When police arrested them, they admitted the shooting, but said their victim looked at them in a bad way.

They followed him, the exchange over the belt buckle followed, and Yotsakorn shot him, they said.

The victim’s Mum, Sakorn Boonmanee, said her son lived at home with his family. “Since finishing school, he has been ferrying people about the place. He takes me to work and his younger sister to school,” she said, describing Koonsap as a good boy who had never caused trouble to anyone.

The twin’s mother, Khamkaew (assumed name), said her sons were on their way to see a friend when the victim’s motorcycle cut in front of them.

“Koonsap jumped off his motorcycle as if he was going to attack them. Yotsakorn was alarmed so shot him,” she told reporters, adding she did not know where her son found the handgun.

“Later he called me to say he’d been involved in a shooting incident. He didn’t yet know the lad was dead and feels sad for what happened,” she added. Her son had asked her to apologise to Koonsap’s family on his behalf.

News reports say the twins have been involved in trouble before. In September last year, they were shot and injured in the arm by a rival.

On Feb 17, they shot a rival of their own in another argument but both were stabbed in return too.

Police charged the pair with premeditated murder in relation to Koonsap’s death, along with firearms offences.

He just felt like killing someone

Suspect Ratchapol

A hairdresser in Buri Ram killed a distant relative after a night of heavy drinking because he felt like attacking someone.

Region 3, Buri Ram and Thamen Chai police nabbed Ratchapol, 44, a hairdresser, for killing a relative, Danuporn or “Aof”, 25, at a house in Lamplaimas district.

The group had taken part in family merit-making activities which started the night before.

A witness says Ratchapol, drinking with friends in a streetside hut about 30m away, declared that he wanted to hit someone.

“He walked to his pickup truck, pulled out a knife, and asked: Who wants it? He headed towards Aof’s group and stabbed Aof once in the chest,” the witness told reporters.

Aof grabbed his chest and asked: “Hey! We don’t know each other.” Fearing for his safety, Aof ran into the house but collapsed. He died later from his injuries.

It is unclear why Ratchapol singled out Aof, a young man he did not know and who had moved to the village only four months before. After stabbing him, he and his mates fled in his truck.

Police later made contact and persuaded Ratchapol, who had fled to Mukdahan, to return. He was nabbed in Maha Sarakham on his way back.

The owner of the house where the stabbing occurred said the victim was a nephew by marriage. Ratchapol was another relative.

He was puzzled by the incident as neither knew the other, despite the fact they were related.

Needless to say, Ratchapol gives a different account. He told police that he was drinking with three mates when he saw the victim walk past, take off his shirt and act aggressively. “He criticised my relatives, we started to argue and I stabbed him,” he said.

The killer’s dad, Bunchee, 73, said his son was a computer teacher before moving to Korea to work. He had been back about a year and opened his own barber’s shop.

Ratchapol said he realises he and the victim were related by marriage and is sorry for what happened. However, he was drunk, he said, as if that excuses it. Police have charged him with murder.

Spite takes boy’s life, bitter old love, parting anxiety

Loving dad turns bad

 Natthapol ‘Joe’ Sangprasert

Locals are aghast after a young Prachuap Khiri Khan father who by everyone’s accounts deeply loved his son nonetheless took the six-year-old’s life to spite his wife, who had left him a month earlier and refused to return.

Hua Hin police nabbed Natthapol “Joe” Sangprasert, 24, for killing his son, Ratchanon “Nong Japan” Sornchalerm, by asphyxiation as the little boy sat in his lap.

Mr Natthapol, who after killing the boy concealed his body in a remote grasslands area about 300m from his home, and claimed to police that the boy had disappeared from his pickup as he ducked into a roadside eatery to buy a meal, kept up this pretense for the next couple of days before being caught out.

He organised a search for the boy, laid a bogus police complaint, conjured up a sighting of a suspicious looking vehicle close to where he said the boy disappeared, and even blamed his hapless wife for the boy’s fate.

Nong Japan

Oddly enough, media reports say the boy was actually still alive for almost 24 hours after he alerted police at 9.30pm on Oct 27, but Mr Natthapol kept him out of sight. He laid his missing person’s complaint almost as if he wanted to convince himself to go ahead.

The young father, who works as a landscape gardener for motels, told police he had parked on the Hua Hin-Nong Phlap Road as he bought a meal from a roadside shop. He left his son, who some media reports say was aged just four, inside the vehicle playing on his phone.

At the time he was talking to police, the boy was still sitting in the vehicle waiting for his father to return. Later he really did go to buy them something to eat, and the child was once again still alive.

Finally, at 5pm next day, he parked on the road about 300m from his home, put Nong Japan on his lap and placed his hand over his nose and mouth until he stopped breathing. The little boy evidently put up a struggle, as police found his body with bruising under his left eye and under his chin. A post mortem showed he had been suffocated.

Mr Natthapol hid the boy’s body in grassland by a sugarcane farm. At midnight the same day, he contacted police again to say that a search he had organised with friends and family had found the little boy’s body in the grassy spot about 2m from the road, in a soi behind Wat Nong Khra.

Mr Natthapol was caught out when police noticed inconsistencies in his account, and perhaps most fatefully when an Oct 27 sound clip came to light which he sent his estranged wife following the boy’s disappearance.

In the message, he said: “Nong Japan is happy now. He’s not here any more. As you were happy to leave your son, I have now abandoned him too.”

By 9am on Oct 29, after many hours of questioning by police, he admitted having taken the boy’s life himself.

Mr Natthapol’s estranged wife, identified in media reports as Pleum, said the boy’s father had claimed many times that their son had gone missing or that he had died, to coax her into returning to him.

As a result, and given his dedication to raising the boy, she knew his Oct 27 claims that Nong Japan had wandered off and could not be found were unlikely to be true.

“Normally he would not let Nong Japan from his sights. I left Nong Japan with his father on Oct 2 after he claimed that I was raising him poorly,” she said, when asked by reporters, a little unkindly, why she entrusted the boy to the suspect’s care.

Pleum said she left her husband because he kept beating her up. Once he hit her with a piece of wood so badly she had to go to hospital.

“I knew he loved our son, so felt safe leaving him with the father,” she said when she heard that her husband, despite that, had taken the boy’s life.

Panatchakorn, the suspect’s aunt who says she raised Mr Natthapol almost as another son, said his house was close by her own.

The suspect adored his son, she said, which makes his tragic decision to end the boy’s life all the more mystifying. “He spoon-fed the boy, took Nong Japan to work with him, and brought him home to play at my place in the evenings,” she said.

“I know he told his wife that if she didn’t want to help raise their son, he didn’t want the boy either,” she said. “I reckon he was spiteful towards her, but forgot himself. He didn’t really mean to kill the boy,” she said.

Police said Mr Natthapol acted partly out of stress after his wife left the burden of raising the boy in his care, though he clearly also resented her decision to leave and knew his hurtful actions would devastate her.

They checked him for traces of drugs, but found nothing. Mr Natthapol was charged with the premeditated murder of his son, despite his own claims to have taken his life unintentionally.

Four years seems like yesterday

Surasak Chuea-sa-at

A young man in Chiang Rai who broke up with his girlfriend four years ago dared the new man in her life to a fight in which the newcomer was fatally stabbed.

Thoeng police nabbed a suspect known as Frame in connection with the death of Surasak Chuea-sa-at, 19, who was stabbed three times in the back, right rib cage, and under his right arm during a fight on Oct 28. The victim died later at hospital.

Frame and Surasak were already rivals, news reports say, when the victim took up with Frame’s old love, identified as Pangram, 17.

Pangram said she and Surasak had known each other for two months and decided to go steady a month ago. He was planning to visit her parent’s place on Nov 1 to ask if they could get engaged but Frame challenged him to a “duel” (a one-on-one fight) beforehand which resulted in him ending up dead.

Frame

News reports say a Facebook user by the name of Thanaphat Kruthun contacted the victim about 10.21pm and challenged him to settle the matter of who should get the girl.

Surasak asked 10 of his mates to turn out on his behalf, while Frame asked 20 of his mates to accompany him as supporters. CCTV images show the two sides turning up at the arranged spot on their motorcycles.

With the two sides so dramatically unmatched, things quickly turned nasty. As Surasak was approaching Frame, his mates started hurling beer bottles at Surasak’s supporters.

When they went to Surasak’s aid, one of Frame’s mates pulled out a gun, according to news reports, and told the group to sit there and do nothing. He also forbade them from pulling out their phones to record the fight.

Sua, 22, one of Surasak’s supporters, said the victim turned up at his place at midnight, asking if he would go with him.

“He was walking over to see Frame’s crowd when they started raising a hue and cry and throwing bottles. Three or four guys charged at him, and Surasak fell over onto a rice field. I went to help but someone in Frame’s group pulled out the gun,” he told reporters.

“Frame and three others started laying into Surasak and held his head into a pool of muddy water until the victim was still. Another guy stabbed him with a hand-held scraper three times and then the group fled,” he said.

Police quickly arrested Frame and were rounding up other members of his gang as news reports went to press.

Pangram said Frame often demanded she return to him. “If he saw Surasak picking me up outside my place, Frame and his mates would go and attack him later when he was alone,” she said. Frame had contacted Surasak asking him to clear the matter before, and she would tell him to pay no mind. She felt saddened by the whole thing, as she was looking forward to getting engaged.

Return to sender

Samruay

A man in Chumphon shot to death his estranged wife after pleading with her unsuccessfully to return to their old life, after she left him to escape his jealous anger.

Sawi police nabbed Thongsuk Chaisit for the fatal shooting of his wife, Ratchanee, 49, at the home of a friend’s place.

Ratchanee was shot in the right temple, right chest, and twice in the groin with a .38. Her husband fired at her with barely a word, and one stray bullet also injured the female friend, Pattsaporn, 46, with whom she was staying. Mr Thongsuk was waiting to hand himself in when police arrived.

Samruay, 26, the victim’s son, said Mr Thongsuk, his stepfather, was driven by jealousy. “He would beat up my mother out of unfounded fears she was seeing someone else,” he told reporters. “They were together for years but she left recently. Every time they argued and split up, my mother would weaken and let him come back. This time she had yet to return.”

Reporters went to Wat Khao Ta Pol for the victim’s funeral, where they spoke to Prasarn, 48, the husband of Pattsaporn, the woman shot by the stray bullet. “Ratchanee was staying with us after leaving her husband. He walked in behind me on the day of the attack unannounced, pulled out a gun and started shooting at his wife. I have never seen anything so traumatic,” he said.

Mr Thongsuk had turned up at his place four times previously asking her to come back. “My wife saw him first, walking behind me as I entered our place. I hadn’t seen him there. She asked who let him in. He pulled out the gun and started shooting. She called out to stop, but he carried on, and my wife was hit by stray fire,” he said, adding she was now out of danger. Police charged Mr Thongsuk with murder.

Angry wife’s spite; old tricks; new start thwarted; old bully

Jilted wife helps gunman

Sasipong Buasri

Police in Surat Thani have nabbed a gunman and a woman friend for conspiring in the cold-blooded murder of the woman’s husband which they meted out as punishment for his poor conduct towards her.

Phunphin district and provincial police nabbed Sasipong Buasri, 26, at a massage shop in Tha Chana district for the Oct 22 murder of Tawich “First” Sunyaprak, 31, a seafood trader and second-hand car dealer.

Sasipong, who admitted killing his victim, said he followed him from his place in Chaiya district that night and overtook him ahead of the spot where he was to slay him. The shooting took place on Highway No 417 (Surat Thani airport-Muang district), at a deserted U-turn just before a bridge.

As Tawich’s pickup approached, he made out as if his own vehicle, a Toyota Yaris, had broken down. Tawich slowed his pickup and wound down the window to ask if he could help.

Sasipong took advantage of this moment to open fire at his victim through his driver’s window, hitting the victim once in the chest and twice in the arm. CCTV vision recorded the sound of half a dozen shots in rapid succession.

The vehicle in which the victim’s body was found

Sasipong, who works for the Volunteer Defence Corps and carries a 9mm handgun on his hip, collected the spent shells and left the victim dead in his vehicle.

The next morning, news reports say, he took his pickup to a repair shop to have the mag wheels changed, and also switched the registration plate, to help disguise the vehicle. That done, he carried on with life as if nothing had happened.

Initial media reports quoted police as saying the victim had debt problems and was known to be carrying on with a woman outside his marriage. However, police were cagey about his business activities, while adding the killer knew his victim’s movements well.

When police caught up with him at the massage shop three days later, the killer was all smiles, which news reports said showed his easy familiarity with the law given his job as a defence volunteer. He admitted killing Tawich, but claimed initially that he shot the victim because he looked at him the wrong way.

Police thought this motive was a stretch, even by the brutal standard of some Thai killings which can take place on a mere whim. They expanded their probe and learned that Sasipong had drawn close to the victim’s wife. “He claimed the victim would beat up his wife and was also being unfaithful, so he took Tawich’s life in reprisal,” one policeman said.

Police say Sasipong acted in cahoots with the victim’s wife, identified as “A”, aged 32. She fed him information about her husband’s movements that evening so Sasipong could kill him.

A was unhappy that her husband was seeing a dek en (nightspot worker) on the side and was spending tens of thousands of baht on her a month. He had also given her the use of his car, though claimed to his wife that it was in for repairs. However, she saw through the lie.

Police charged the pair jointly with premeditated murder. Sasipong also faces firearms charges.

Theft is more profitable

Somchai ‘Neng’ Saogner

A convicted thief from Samut Prakan went back to his old trade of snatch-and-grab robberies after failing to make ends meet as a painter.

Bang Khun Thian police nabbed Somchai “Neng” Saogner, 35, in Phra Samut Chedi district, Samut Prakan, for two snatch-and-grab robberies in Bangkok last week.

Linnai, a victim, says she was shopping near Sirichai market in Bang Bon on Oct 22 when the thief came up from behind and snatched her gold necklace. CCTV shows him following her and friends on his motorcycle. He grabbed the necklace and took off on his bike.

Somchai, who admitted the offence, said he took the one-baht weight necklace and traded it at a local store, raising 18,900 baht. With the proceeds he took his girlfriend for a day at the seaside in Bang Saen.

Media reports said he managed to spend the lot on his one-day outing, so the next day went out and tried his luck again. This time he stole a gold necklace worth two saleung in weight from a victim in the Rat Burana area. Once again he sold at a local shop, raising 15,000 baht.

When police caught him later that day they also recovered the cash proceeds. A check of his criminal history showed Somchai had been caught for snatch and grab robberies and for drugs offences five times.

He was freed from jail most recently in late 2021, after which he took up work as a painter. However, he told police he was unable to make ends meet as a painter so went back to stealing. Police charged him with theft.

Engaged no more

Sawat

A woman who was about to get engaged with a Thai worker evacuated from Israel was shot dead by her angry ex-boyfriend.

Klong Tan police nabbed Sawat, 36, for killing Kornika at a storage area in soi Sukhumvit 69, Phra Khanong Nuea in Klong Toey. He shot her in the nape of the neck, the arm, and back.

Sawat, a tuk tuk driver, who told police the pair were once together but broke up as he already had a family of his own. However, he was restless and wanted his ex-girlfriend back again.

When he asked if they could start again, she spurned his advances, as she had since found new love. She was about to get engaged to a Thai worker recently evacuated from Gaza Strip, where Israel has declared war on terror group Hamas.

Sawat decided she had no right to seek pleasure if he was miserable, so shot her. Police charged him with murder.

Brazen assault

Sukhumphan

Police in Nonthaburi police caught an old man who punched an eight-year-old twice in the chin for accidentally hitting him with his football.

Pak Kret police nabbed Sukhumphan, 64, on his way back from Suphan Buri on his motorcycle on Oct 25. He hit the boy two days before in full view of passersby as the old man was buying an ice-cream in the Tha Nam area of Pak Kret.

Khanun, aged eight, and three friends said they were kicking their ball when it accidentally hit the old man in the back. Khanun twice offered the man a wai of apology, but the old man, enraged, grabbed the lad by the collar and punched him twice in the chin.

The boy started to cry, as the ice-cream seller who was serving the old man and who witnessed the attack, shouted at the attacker to leave the boy alone. No one else intervened despite the public display of aggression.

The boy’s father, Wanchai, 33, took his son to see a doctor, and laid a complaint with Pak Kret police, who caught up with the old man two days later. He claimed he regretted hitting the boy, though had yet to hand himself in at the time he was caught.

Sukhumphan, originally from from Pathum Thani, maintained he hit the boy just once, and would like to say sorry to the lad and his parents.

Netizens shared images taken from CCTV cameras in the area which captured the assault.

Police charged the old man with assault and fined him 1,000 baht as provided for under the law.