The Samut Sakhon provincial court on Wednesday sentenced former Democrat MP Khanchit Thapsuwan to death for the 2011 murder of Udon Kraiwatnussorn, a prominent Pheu Thai Party-affiliated politician in the province.
The court also denied Kanchit's bail request even as he claimed to appeal the case.
The provincial court read its verdict on Wednesday amidst tight security, as the murder case has drawn considerable public attention.
Former Democrat MP for Samut Sakhon Khanchit Thapsuwan is sentenced to death in connection with the murder of former chairman of the provincial administration organisation Udon Kraiwatnussorn in 2011.
The court denied him bail.
Khanchit, a former Democrat MP for Samut Sakhon, was convicted of shooting dead Udon, former chairman of the Samut Sakhon provincial administration, at a PTT petrol station, opposite the Big C Mahachai superstore on Sethakij Road in tambon Tha Sai in Muang district, at Dec 25, 2011.
The provincial court approved a warrant for Khanchit's on Dec 26 on murder charges. He reported to the investigators the next day and immediately was released on bail, as he was protected by immunity during the parliamentary session.
Former Democrat MP for Samut Sakhon Khanchit Thapsuwan is sentenced to death in connection with the murder of former chairman of the provincial administration organisation Udon Kraiwatnussorn in 2011. (Bangkok Post file photo)
During police interrogation, Khanchit denied all charges. Police asked him to hand over his registered 40-calibre pistol for examination, but the then-current MP refused. He was charged by public prosecutors June 28, 2012.
According to the police investigation, the two men, who had long been engaged in a personal conflict over a woman, had bumped into each other at the petrol station while Udon was travelling to an academic exhibition at a school in Krathum Ban district.
Udon later was found dead in the petrol station's restroom with eight shots to the head from a .40 pistol.
Udon was a son of former deputy agriculture and cooperative minister Monthon Kraiwatnussorn and elder brother of Udom Kraiwatnussorn, a former assistant to the labour minister and ex-executive member of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party.
The two families are well known in Samut Sakhon, but they had never been in political conflicts because their fathers entered politics before passing their batons on to their sons.
Eventually Udon and Kanchit decided to go separate ways. Udon played a dominant role in local politics, as he had been elected president of the provincial administrative organisation twice and Kanchit entered national politics.
He was first elected to parliament in 2007 and re-elected in 2011 and served until parliament was dissolved in December.
Despite their involvement in politics, Khanchit's father, Anek Thapsuwan, said the two families never clashed and that the real motive behind the killing remained a mystery to him.
Porjai Kraiwatnussorn (right), mother of Udon, is at the court in Muang district in Samut Kakhon province to listen to the verdict. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)
Members of the two families, including their mothers and supporters, went to court to listen to the verdict.
Arriving at the court, Khanchit urged his supporters gathering in front of the courthouse to respect the ruling and said he had more many more courts in which to appeal, if found guilty.
Udom Kraiwatnussorn, Udon's younger brother, told Thai Rath Online after the verdict that justice has been served for his family.
''It was a huge loss to the family when it happened. Those who committed the crime must take responsibility and accept the consequences,'' he added.