CHON BURI: A murder suspect on the run for 13 years has been arrested for the murder of a man in Pattaya, while shopping with his girlfriend at a superstore in Nakhon Ratchasima on Thursday night.
Somkhid Thamniyom, 31, was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the provincial Pattaya court in Chon Buri in 2004 for colluding in murder and illegal possession of weapons.
He was caught at a Big C superstore branch in Nakhon Ratchasima's Muang district around 10.30pm while out shopping with his girlfriend.
Police said he was wanted for the murder of Siriwatthana Kabkaew, who was shot dead on South Pattaya Road on Aug 20, 2004. The gunman fled.
Police finally tracked down the suspect, who was said to be staying at his girlfriend’s house in Nakhon Ratchasima. They pounced on him at the superstore on Thursday night.
He was handed over to Pattaya police station.
Mr Somkhid allegedly admitted he had killed Siriwatthana following a pub brawl in 2004. He had fled the beach town afterwards and had worked as a hired-hand in several provinces before being caught.