Cops launch manhunt
Police in Pathum Thani are looking for an armed vagrant who fatally shot a teenager in the head for looking at him too long.
Spy Kaewsom
Armed with a warrant, 20 armed Khu Khot police were late last week hunting for Spy Kaewsom, 23, accused of killing a teenage girl near a pork grill restaurant for no greater sin than peering at him.
Victim Wanwisa "Tangmo" Sumaphorn, 17, who is short-sighted, was attacked moments after leaving the eatery with a group of five friends on April 20.
When she and her friends walked in for a meal, they saw the vagrant sitting with his own group of friends. The two sides exchanged looks, but said nothing to each other, reports said.
After their meal, CCTV vision shows the group departing the eatery, near Nana Charoen market in Lam Luk Ka district, on two motorcycles, and the assailant following alone on his own motorcycle shortly after. Tangmo was riding at the rear of the second bike when she was shot at about 8.45pm near the Lam Sam Kaeo municipality office.
Witnesses say the attacker fired his weapon four times, the last shot entering Tangmo's forehead. Her stunned friends took her to hospital, where she died the next morning.
The assailant circled back to check on his handiwork before fleeing. Spy told a friend that he shot her because she stared at him, news reports say.
The suspect -- slim, about 175 cm tall, with shoulder-length hair and tattoos on both legs -- was with a group of four or five friends aged in their 20s, including a young man who had found him sleeping rough and opened his home to him.
The CCTV shows the shooter riding his motorcycle back the way he came, heading towards a nearby village, which connects to the Thanyaburi canal.
CCTV vision close to Wat Chanthasuk later captures the suspect riding another motorcycle fleeing towards Future Park Rangsit. Police believe he left the motorcycle used in the crime elsewhere and took another motorcycle to make his escape.
Jutharat Sumaphorn, 36, Tangmo's mother, said her daughter had gone to eat a pork grill with her boyfriend and four friends.
When they entered, they noticed a group in their 20s who kept staring at them, she said, recounting what her daughter's friends told her. Tangmo's boyfriend sensed trouble and asked for the bill, then they left.
The assailant followed the group and fired at them. The last shot hit her daughter as she turned to look.
Tangmo's elder sister, Mina, said she believes the reason her sister was shot was indeed due to the exchange of glances at the restaurant, but she does not understand why it escalated to such violence.
She said that when they made eye contact, her sister might have looked back because she was short-sighted. This could have led the other group to misunderstand and think they were looking for trouble, resulting in the shooting.
Nont (no surname given), among Spy's friends at the eatery, said the victim and her friends entered the restaurant and looked around like typical teenagers. No one paid them any mind, except for Spy. After the victim's group left, Spy followed.
Nont, who called his father about 9pm to say Spy had shot someone, said he came upon the suspect sleeping in a chicken coop, and invited him to stay at their home.
Spy, he said, had no parents and no permanent residence, and often stayed at different people's houses. When he was at their home, he appeared the quiet type but liked drinking kratom juice. No one expected he would commit such a violent act.
Reports say about 20 armed police from the district are hunting for Spy, who has supposedly vowed he would rather die in a hail of gunfire with police than surrender.
Pol Lt Col Prasit Somboonjit, deputy investigation chief, said the warrant seeks Spy's arrest on charges of murder with intent and firearms offences. Upping the stakes, Provincial Police commander Pol Maj Gen Yutthana Jonkhun on Thursday offered a reward of 50,000 baht for useful information leading to Spy's arrest.
Shout, and he takes fright
A timorous thief in Yasothon who abandoned his attempt to rob a gold shop when its owner shouted at him said he felt scared when she raised her voice.
A gold shop owner, inset, shouts at Yothana as he tries to steal the gold.
CCTV images show the suspect, Yothana (no surname provided), or "Sam Hongthong", 29, fleeing after the feisty shop owner demanded he put down his gun.
He left without any gold and without firing his shotgun, escaping on a motorcycle before his eventual capture in Mukdahan province on Thursday.
The owner, Sukanya (no surname provided), told reporters she did not feel scared during the robbery on Monday and was not worried about being shot.
News reports suggested she and her nephew, who was also present, doubted Yothana's shotgun was loaded (it was indeed empty, he admitted after his arrest, though he had one round of ammunition in his pocket).
CCTV images show Yothana entering the store wearing a full-face helmet. He demands five baht, without specifying he meant five baht of gold weight.
Sukanya duly hands over a five baht coin, apparently misunderstanding his intentions, as she gets many beggars in the area asking her for small change. Other reports suggested she was being cute with the robber, as she had no intention of handing over any gold.
He pulls out his weapon, and a wordy exchange follows in which Sukanya tells him to drop the gun and leave the shop. She repeats this several times until she finally shouts, "Put the gun down right now!" This startles the thief, who runs from the shop before Sukanya calls police.
Initially, Yothana said he was angry with the owner for handing over the five baht coin, but later realised he failed to specify he wanted gold. "When the shop owner yelled at me to drop the gun, it scared me so much I almost did drop it," he said.
He fled to his home province of Roi Et and ditched his shotgun at a relative's place. Later he rented a room in Mukdahan province, hoping to sneak across the border to a neighbouring country. However, he was caught by police first.
He was nabbed in a thicket behind a gas station in Muang district, and later taken for a crime reconstruction, where he and Sukanya met again. Yothana, mocked in the media as a "weak-hearted" thief and "not yet a pro", said he bought the firearm for 3,000 baht over 10 years ago. He acknowledged he had a history of drug and firearms-related offences.
He committed the robbery on the spur of the moment as he was in debt and his creditors were demanding repayment. Feeling stressed, he rode his motorcycle into Yasothon municipality to eat. He usually carried a firearm with him. He parked his motorcycle in front of the shop. He left the gun unloaded because he was afraid it might accidentally discharge.
His feisty nemesis Sukanya said she felt angry when he pulled out the weapon. However, she admitted that after watching the news coverage, she was still confused about what had happened. Police charged the suspect with attempted robbery and firearms offences.
Trying out his singing voice
A road accident victim in Rayong, blood seeping from his wounds, serenaded rescue workers as he tried to persuade them to let him carry on drinking at a karaoke bar.
Chatch, trying out his singing skills.
Siam Rayong rescue volunteers attended the accident in Nikhom Phatthana district where they found motorcyclist Chatch (no surname provided), 40, sitting next to his motorcycle, with a head injury, split lip and various cuts to his body.
He had come off his bike after drinking too much at a friend's place nearby. The rescue volunteers provided first aid to Chatch. In a video taken at the scene, he tells rescuers they needn't bother because he wanted to go to a karaoke bar instead.
Chatch tried out his singing skills as he tried to charm the rescue crew. He insisted that if he was to be treated, only women crew members should attend to him, not men. Rescuers explained to Chatch that he was bleeding and needed to be patched up. It is unclear if police were asked to get involved.
Rescue workers warned Chatch that while he might see the lighter side of things now, that would change when he got home to his wife. They took Chatch's motorcycle on the back of a rescue vehicle to his house, fearing he might have another accident if left alone.
