A 25-year-old American man shot himself dead with a stolen gun in Pattaya on Tuesday morning, police said.

According to witnesses, the man stole a gun from an outdoor shooting range.

He left on a motorcycle, heading for Pattaya.

On the way, he allegedly fired some shots, but hurt nobody.


About 12.30am on Tuesday, in front of The Trust Residence Central Pattaya, the man allegedly had an argument with Pichakorn Thapana, 18, a local resident, and hit him on the head.

Mr Pichakorn told police this happened after he parked his motorcycle in front of the condominium and was waiting for his older sister. The sister saw what happened and threw her hat at the American.

The man allegedly produced a knife then walked away, returned with a gun and fired one shot into the sky.

Police surrounded the area and told the man to put down his gun. According to police, the man fired a few shots in reply.

One of the shots hit Tiwakorn Krismanee, 31, an assisant to a TV Channel 3 reporter in Pattaya, in his foot.

The man then went into the condominium.

About 3am, a police team went up to the man's room. A friend of the man accompanied them and tried to talk to him, and called him on the phone, which was not answered.

The police decided to break into the room and found the man lying dead on a bed with a gunshot wound to the head. He was believed to have been dead about two hours. Police believed he had killed himself.

The man's United States passport  was found in the room. He was 25 years old. Police also found a knife and a gun.