X gets son to pull trigger, love triangle row, tradie’s pride

Dad puts up son for kill

 Wacharin ‘X’ Seemongkolrat

A young ex-con has admitted killing his stepmother on his stepfather’s orders, saying he was afraid his father would beat him if he didn’t carry it out.

Narin “Mack” Seemongkolrat, 23, and his father Wacharin “X” Seemongkolrat, 40, are charged with jointly murdering Charintorn “Amm” Boonnak, 25, outside X’s family home in Bang Khun Thian on May 13, with Mack saying his father handed him the gun and ordered him to pull the trigger.

Bang Khun Thian and Metropolitan Police Division 9 police say they questioned X for hours after the killing in the Wat Sai slum community, soi Ekkachai 77 in Bang Khun Thian, before he finally confessed late on May 14.

Subsequent media reports said he declined to help further, saving his testimony for court. His stepson was more forthcoming, agreeing to take part in a crime reconstruction. Both had earlier denied involvement.

Charintorn ‘Amm’ Boonnak

Police say Amm had agreed to meet the pair after work, and moments later was found behind X’s house with a bullet wound to her temple. While there were no witnesses to the shooting, father and son were seen arriving on their motorcycles and leaving in separate directions shortly after.

In his confession, Mack told police that his father had given him a modified .38 pistol which he had bought for 6,500 baht. Mack is the son of X’s ex-wife and regards X as his father.

He said X ordered him to kill Amm and when he had shot her, told him to quickly dispose of the weapon. He later helped him bury it.

Narin ‘Mack’ Seemongkolrat

Mack said he gave Amm’s body a wai of apology moments after shooting her. “My father said if I didn’t do it, he would shoot her himself but then attack me,” Mack said. “I had no intention to kill her and would like to apologise to Amm and her relatives.”

His father, he said, beat him frequently and he was afraid of being hurt again. However, some media reports say Mack also pulled the trigger out of sympathy for his father, after Amm left X and found a new man even though she and X were not yet divorced. X and Amm have two children of their own, aged 10, and 12 months.

Bang Khun Thian police say Mack is a repeat drug offender and convicted thief. In January 2018 he and his teen gang were nabbed for stealing a safe from Wat Ratchaorotsaram. He had only recently been released when he shot Amm.

Following the shooting, Mack said he and his father, a drainage worker for the BMA, buried the weapon close to where he works, a BMA pumping station in soi Petchkasem 81. They returned home as if nothing had happened, having left Amm lying on the ground for the neighbours to find, until police called them in.

Later, as he was called in for questioning, X told reporters that he still loved Amm and would not dream of harming her.

“I am not jealous. In fact, I go after her every day to try to make things up to her. If I had wanted her dead I would have done it before now,” he said.

Before his confession, Mack, like his father, admitted turning up at the house, but said he left before his father arrived.

He admitted having spoken to his father about “what to do” about Amm, after she started seeing another man.

Amm’s mother said she was sure X was behind the murder, as he had beaten up Amm for years.

Speaking at her daughter’s funeral at Wat Sing in the district, La-ongduan Muangkehtma said she complained to police about the beatings, to no avail.

“She also tried fleeing her abusive husband with my help, but that didn’t work either. So I asked them to divorce. X wouldn’t agree, and I reckon laid a plan to do the whole thing.”

She claimed Mack and her daughter were close, often heading out on errands together. “They loved each other. I hope X gets death for what he did.”

Somkit Muangkehtma, X’s mother, said she is saddened by Amm’s death, as she was not just her daughter-in-law but a relative as well.

“She has a new man, but often turns up at our place because the baby is with us there. But if my son did wrong I won’t take his side and nor will I forgive him because he has gone too far,” she said.

The night before the killing, she said X had called Amm and abused her after Amm missed a repayment on her motorcycle, which she had bought in his name.

Police charged the couple with jointly killing Amm and being in possession of an unlicensed weapon. They were remanded in the custody of the Thon Buri court where police were planning to oppose bail.

Girl at centre of fatal stabbing

Kamol Tientabtim

A Samut Songkhram teenager killed his older friend and workmate in a bitter love triangle dispute after he started seeing his ex-girlfriend.

Kamol Tientabtim, 19, admitted stabbing Sitthipol Teerapunyachai 27, outside his home in Thai Had, Muang district on May 14. He stabbed Sitthipol six times with a pocket knife after his older friend hit him in a row over a girl.

Police said they also found the young woman, Jenjira, 17, at the scene nursing a bruised knee. She had tried to stop the two men fighting over her but was pushed to the ground.

Kamol said Sitthipol was seeing Janjira previously and when the two broke up she started seeing Kamol, which led to the row.

Sitthipol Teerapunyachai

Before their fight he took her to his place, where they also bumped into Sitthipol. When he saw them together he started arguing with Kamol.

Kamol said he had apologised to Sitthipol many times for seeing his ex-girlfriend, but he would not let up. “I told him if you hit me, I will hit you back.”

Sitthipol punched him and Kamol, who realised he could not defend himself against the older lad, pulled out the knife and stabbed him until he fell to the ground.

Reporters spoke to Kamol’s father, Winai Tiantabtim, aged 75, who said he was taking a nap about 8pm when he heard arguing.

“I took a look and saw Sitthipol lying in a heap on the ground, and my son with blood on his hands.”

His son said: “I did it, I own up, Dad. Please look after my kid.” Kamol has a son aged about 12 months.

Mr Winai said he didn’t know Jenjira or Sitthipol, and would not bail out his son as he had no money. “I will let him meet his fate as he has done wrong. Nor will I go to say sorry to the victim’s family as I don’t know anyone,” he said.

Wanlapha Teerapunyachai, 47, the victim’s aunt, said Sitthipol and the girl had gone out just two weeks. She had come to the house a few times.

“We didn’t get along as I feel as if she behaved like a girl beyond her years. Two days before, she and Sitthipol argued and I broke it up, asking the girl to leave the house. She went and sat outside. Someone came to pick her up, I am not sure who,” she said.

Kamol, who worked with Sitthipol at a local hotel, often came to their place for a meal.

“I believe the girl caused it because she was the one whose actions led them to fight. I would like her to take responsibility for what she did. Thanks to her, I have lost my nephew,” she said. Police have charged Kamol with intentional killing.

Too pretty for a building site

Praphatsorn ‘New’ Chinsri at work

A “pretty” product presenter has turned to the building trade to pay the bills after her regular work dried up during Covid.

Praphatsorn “New” Chinsri, 32, is winning praise on the internet after a clip surfaced of her working on a building site, helping out relatives who have a construction business.

New said she does putty work, lays bricks, mixes cement, ties up and bundles iron, drills holes, and paints. She is paid 400 baht a day not including overtime, which she says is just enough to make ends meet, though it cannot compare with the 30,000-40,000 baht a month she earned as a “pretty” product presenter.

Headshot of Niw

Her work as an MC, presenter, and running a shop repairing smartphones fell by the wayside as Covid forced department stores to close and customers stayed away. “I had no work for three months but decided I had better find something,” she told reporters.

She was able to draw on previous work experience as a 17-year-old when she helped relatives as a builder during the term holidays. “I can pour cement, do plastering, build a wall, bundle iron...I can do everything except for the welding,” she said.

“It is tiring work as I am in the sun, but I have to do it to keep myself fed. I tell myself that one day we will get through this.”

New admits some people have given her condescending looks when they see her looking grubby in her worker’s gear. “However, I would urge others in my position to ignore the bad looks and just give it a go.”