Phetchaburi's provincial court has approved an arrest warrant for a man suspected of murdering his wife and two of her family members on Friday.
The warrant was issued for a 50 year old known only as Nai, who fled after allegedly shooting Orn-uma Chompoophan, 38, her son Thapana Punthong, 21, and her mother Oo Muakpueng, 55.
Orn-uma was gunned down while relaxing in a hammock in front of the family home in Nong Ya Plong district.
The bodies of Oo and Thapana were found near the front door of the house, both with bullet wounds to the head.
Forensic experts collected multiple .38-calibre bullet casings from the scene.
Police said the suspect, who worked as a farm labourer, had moved into the house just 15 days earlier.
Investigators were still searching for a motive in the killing, but suspected it may have stemmed from an argument over adultery.
Anna Permthong, 19, Thapana’s wife, said she was having dinner with her family in the kitchen when several gunshots rang out.
She rushed out to the front of the house and saw Orn-uma’s body.
Mr Nai then allegedly turned his gun on Thapana and Oo before riding away on a motorcycle. Ms Anna was not hurt.
Malee Chompoophan, Oo’s daughter-in-law, said she had hired Mr Nai as a day labourer to pick pineapples from her farm. The suspect had left the farm about 8pm on Friday night, she said.
Ms Malee said she knew very little about Mr Nai and had no idea what province he came from.
All she knew was that he had previously worked at a chilli farm in Ban Mae Ka Muey in Kang Krachan district.
Last week, Mr Nai reportedly had a heated argument with Oo after she had asked him to drive her to a funeral at a local temple.