A police officer and police volunteer were both hurt when they shot each other following an alcohol-fuelled altercation outside a Koh Samui bar.
Pol Lt Somporn Cherdchim, the 55-year-old head of the Bantai police service centre, and volunteer Sitthiporn Poonsawat were rushed to area hospitals after the gunfight outside the Tawan Chai Cafe on Thaweeratpakdi Road around 2.30am today.
Bar employees told police that Mr Sitthiporn and two other friends were drinking heavily until the bar closed at 2am. After being repeatedly turned down for dates by female singers, Mr Sitthiporn got angry and walked out, pulled his gun and fired a shot into the sky, they said.
The bar owner then called police, Thai media reported Friday.
One of the responding officers, Pol Sr Sgt Maj Chamnarn Poolsaksa, 45, told investigators he found Mr Sitthiporn waving his pistol around in front of the bar to intimidate staffers.
As he used to work with the volunteer, Pol Sr Sgt Maj Chamnarn tried to persuade Mr Sitthiporn to lay down his gun, but the volunteer refused and fired a shot at him instead. He missed and the officer returned fire. The drunk man then fired five more shots.
During the gunfight, Pol Lt Somporn arrived and asked Mr Sitthiporn to surrender, but got shot in the stomach, said Pol Snr Maj Chamnarn. He then fired another shot at Mr Sitthiporn, hitting him in the leg to stop him.
Pol Lt Somporn was under close watch at the hospital while Mr Sitthiporn was being treated at another facility. Police have yet to press charges against him.