Man slain in front of girlfriend
A man was shot dead in his car by gunmen who pulled his girlfriend from the vehicle before opening fire on him outside a restaurant in Muang district of Nonthaburi early yesterday.
Pattarachai Thadthiam, 27, died in a hail of bullets on Ratchaphruek Road in tambon Bang Krang around 1.30am, Pol Lt Col Somchai Ornpakdi, deputy investigation superintendent at Bang Srimuang station said.
The victim was shot 11 times and police found an undisclosed number of spent 9mm and .38 bullet casings at the scene. There were five bullet holes in the driver’s side window, police said.
His girlfriend Sasina Pengwichai, 22, told police that Pattarachai arrived in his car to meet her and a friend outside a restaurant. After they got in his car, a man she identified as “Benz” suddenly open the front passenger door, dragged her out of the vehicle and opened fire at her boyfriend with a handgun.
Another man fired shots at
Pattarachai from the driver’s side. Terrified, Ms Sasina said she and her friend fled into the restaurant. When the gunfire stopped, she said she saw the two men flee in a black car with no licence plates.
Ms Sasina told police she believed the shooting stemmed from an incident at a shopping mall in Bang Yai district of Nonthaburi in November last year, when Pattarachai was involved in a brawl. His rivals had threatened to kill him, Ms Sasina said.
The victim’s father, Therdthai Thadthiam, 50, was called to the scene and told police that a group of men in several cars came to his motorcycle repair shop two months ago looking for his son.
They claimed Pattarachai had assaulted their friends and they wanted his son to go with them to sort out the dispute. They said if Pattarachai did not go with them, they would kill him, according to Mr Therdthai. They then left as his son was not there.
Police reportedly know the identities of the killers and were tracking them down.