Grieving kin want answers
The family of a former fire arts performer in Pattaya is appealing for justice after a durian worker killed him and a co-worker in Chumphon.
Damrongsak, or Fuse, 27, was shot dead along with a young co-worker at a durian plantation in Sawi district last week.
The killer, co-worker Anon, 27, fled in a pickup moments after the shooting but was caught by police in Phetchaburi and charged with premeditated murder.
The brutal nature of the killings has shocked locals, as Anon barely knew the co-workers he attacked. He told police that he and his victims argued and one told him he would be beaten up when the shift ended.
Their supervisor, however, insists he detected no signs of animosity. Fuse's family, meanwhile, are wondering why they heard so little from police before the young man's funeral and questioned the veracity of the death certificate issued by the hospital which examined his body.
The shootings took place at a durian plantation on June 19. The men were part of a group of 12, according to media reports, drawn from Chanthaburi and Chumphon provinces and put to work in the same team. They were sorting and loading durian into trucks when, shortly before the end of shift and without warning, Anon opened fire.
Khanong, or Jack, 38, their supervisor, said he did not hear the men argue beforehand and if there was bad feeling among the team he knew nothing of it.
Early that evening he did hear one of the men whom Anon attacked telling him to stop sitting around and help load some more fruit. He suspects this may have triggered the shooting frenzy which followed.
Fuse was shot in the mouth and chest, while co-worker Weerasak, 20, was shot in the chest. Both died later from their injuries.
A third co-worker, Chakrapong, 26, was shot in the neck with the bullet exiting through his eye. His chances of survival were given as 50:50.
Police found a 9mm calibre semi-automatic at the scene, and a CCTV camera from 150m away caught the sound of 12 shots ringing out before the killer fled.
"I was toting up bills with my back turned when the shooting rang out. I saw Chakrapong was shot, and I managed to wrest the weapon from the gunman. In the confusion I also saw Fuse had been hit," Khanong said.
"I have known victims for ages as we come from the same province; however, I knew the killer for just two days. He was recommended by a friend. I didn't know he was carrying a gun. His claim that he was worried he would be beaten up doesn't stack up," he said.
Chamaiporn Khampud, 32, Fuse's wife, said her husband was a well-known fire-breathing and juggling artist, part of a troupe of cowboy-style performers who toured the country and appeared on TV.
However, during the Covid epidemic, work in Pattaya dried up, so he packed up his family including three young children and moved them to his parents' place in Thung Tako district. Here, he took on work at durian plantations to help make ends meet.
Speaking to reporters, Kong Vietpaen, 53, his mother, said the funeral had been going two nights but the killer's family had yet to make contact with an apology or offers of restitution.
They had heard little from the police about the investigation, even after the killer, who confessed, had been caught. Adding to their suspicions of a cover-up, the doctor who examined Fuse's body initially declared he died from a heart attack caused by large blood loss, with no mention of the shooting.
One media report said the family asked the hospital to take a second look, when the death certificate was amended to declare the true cause.
Banharn, 55, Fuse's father, also deplores the lack of police contact. "We have heard little. Meanwhile, his wife is now left to shoulder the burden of raising three kids, aged 6, 4 and 2."
Ms Kong shared with reporters a moving video of the couple's 2 year-old daughter, holding a lit incense stick and asking if someone could open the lid of her Dad's coffin so she could hug him.
Pol Col Panya Tuamsri, head of Sawi station, said Anon admitted the attack. "He says he feared for his safety so opened fire before the others could harm him."
The case was all but wrapped up, he said, while offering no explanation for the lack of contact with Fuse's family. The funeral for Weerasak, the other victim, was held before reporters could talk to the family.
How dare you charge me!
A Bangkok man accused of defrauding his employer went out with a bang, remonstrating in front of his boss's CCTV before shooting himself in the head.
Thanakrit "Joke" Chongrojkul, 43, was arrested on June 19 on charges of stealing 1 million baht or so from his boss, who runs a Bang Bon firm supplying black tinted window film.
Joke was manager at the shop and close to his boss, identified in news reports as Boy. He was entrusted to look after the accounts.
However, after Boy noticed large sums of money had gone missing, he complained to police, who sought a court warrant which led to Joke's arrest. It is not known how Boy confronted Joke about the alleged theft, or what happened to his job.
But on June 25, as caught by CCTV vision outside the Bang Bon Road 2 shop, Joke turned up in his car alone, got out, and started swearing and gesticulating.
The shop was closed for the day, and his boss had taken his family for an outing to Kanchanaburi. However, Joke must have known he would see the clip eventually.
Police believe he started swearing in front of the camera to show his boss, whom he had known for years, that he was not happy about being arrested.
After putting on his dramatic display, he pulled out a 9mm calibre Smith & Wesson and shot himself in the temple, taking his own life.
Media images show Joke's girlfriend outside the shop after being alerted to the death, wailing at her loss. Bang Khun Thian police also contacted Boss, who dropped in to give evidence on his way back from his outing.
He never made 15
A remorseful Nong Bua Lam Phu teen took his own life moments after beating his grandfather about the head with a meat cleaver in a drug-induced rage.
Peerawit, or "Sim Card", 14, hanged himself in front of a cotton fruit tree on his grandfather's property where he had been raised since a child.
Card, as he was known for short, and his granddad Sanga, had argued on the night of June 25 before both headed to bed. About 4.30am, Sanga's wife, Tim, woke to find Card striking Sanga mercilessly about the head with the cleaver.
She called out for help as her husband, who has bad legs, staggered out the front of the house where he collapsed with serious injuries to his cheek, the nape of his neck and head. An ambulance later took him to hospital where he is recovering.
Card's parents split up when he was still young and moved to the provinces for work. However, they saw him on holidays and sent money to his grandparents regularly for his upkeep. Neighbours say he grew up spoiled and kept largely to himself.
The teen rested during the day in a ramshackle sleepout on the property but would sleep in the main house at night.
After the ambulance taking Sanga to hospital had left, neighbours went in search of Card, whom they found had hanged himself under the tree. He kneeled down while standing, so the rope would apply pressure to his neck.
Searching his sleepout later, police found dried cannabis and krathom. Inside Sanga's room where he was attacked, they found the meat cleaver and a knife discarded by his bed.
Neighbours say the teen would occasionally fly into rages, but his doting grandparents would turn the other cheek, they were so fond of him. Police sent his body for an autopsy, and asked for blood tests to see if he also had drugs other than cannabis in his system. He died on the eve of what would have been his 15th birthday.
