FEISTY AUNT SHOOTS NEPHEW, BOOZERS FALL OUT, GRIEVING BOY
Rice row ends in death
A nephew fell victim to his fiery-tempered aunt’s dispute with her estranged husband when she shot him in the face.
Chai Wan police in Udon Thani nabbed Preeyadee “Noi” Channuea, 56, for the shooting death of her nephew, Phuyiam Chansamornsuk, 45 at a rice farm hut.
After shooting him, she burned his body to disguise the evidence, but a village head called to put out the fire saw a human leg protruding from the blaze and called police.
Ms Preeyadee had just been to see her estranged husband, Songmuang “Kaen” Janyano, 52, over an agreement to split up the rice he had harvested on her land.
While the two parted almost two years ago, Mr Songmuang still farms land owned by his estranged wife, and gives her rice in lieu of rent. Victim Phuyiam has his own hut nearby.
Ms Preeyadee said they had agreed to divide up the rice crop yield every year. However, Mr Songmuang said his estranged wife had earlier sent their daughter to tell him that this year she didn’t want the rice, so he had sold it.
He said when the suspect turned up at his farm hut on the evening of Dec 8 demanding the rice after all, the pair argued. He left as he did not want any trouble with Ms Preeyadee, who had turned up with a Thai-modified sawn-off shotgun.
She said she brought the weapon for self-protection as she had ventured out alone, though other reports said Mr Songmuang had assaulted her in the past and she took it to ward him off.
After her husband walked away, Ms Preeyadee said she went to the hut occupied by her nephew about 100m away. She told police later that Phuyiam spoke to her brusquely about the rice dispute, so she brought out the weapon to threaten him. Phuyiam tried to wrest the weapon away and it went off, hitting him in the face.
Mr Songmuang, who was nearby, said he heard his nephew calling out, then the sound of gunfire. Later he saw a blaze outside the hut, and assumed his estranged wife had set fire to the place.
Kham Lo sub-district head Sakrai Rittichorajak said Mr Songmuang ran to him saying Ms Preeyadee had set fire to the hut and feared she would kill him. He headed to the scene on his motorbike.
“I approached the fire to put it out, and was shocked to see a human leg sticking out. I called village security and alerted police,” he told reporters.
Police found Ms Preeyadee at home. While she initially denied doing anything wrong, after two hours of questioning she admitted shooting her nephew, which she maintains was accidental, and in a panic setting fire to his body.
At first the suspect told police she was still arguing with her estranged husband when the gun went off, and that her nephew was hit. However, she later changed her account to say she had shot her nephew accidentally at his hut.
She said she wrapped the victim’s body with a rug, and doused him in benzene before setting the body alight as it lay on a wooden bed.
Police charged her with murder with intent, firearms charges, and defiling the body. As they made their arrest, Mr Songmuang hugged his estranged wife, pledging to look after things in her absence.
They had been together off and on for 30 years and still love each other, despite the occasional difference, he said. Mr Songmuang said he left his wife almost two years before owing to her hot temper.
Handy place for a murder
A man killed his mate after he wandered off alone at a temple concert, upsetting his drinking plans.
Bang Rakam police in Phitsanulok nabbed Banjerd Yimchoi, 36, for fatally stabbing his friend, Theerayut Tumorn, 32, at Plak Raet temple on Dec 11.
The pair had gone with their boss, construction contractor Pratheep
Hin-art, 37, to watch a concert. They had started drinking at his place earlier that evening and carried on imbibing at the temple, despite a complaint by one of the monks.
As the concert was starting to wind down, Mr Pratheep wandered off to buy still more alcohol, and agreed to meet the pair at his pickup at 10pm. He was parked in an isolated spot by the monk’s eating quarters.
Banjerd, originally from Nonthaburi, said he turned up as arranged but his friend Theerayut, who hails from Maha Sarakham, had wandered off alone and had no phone.
After failing to find him, Banjerd asked concert organisers to broadcast an announcement calling Theerayut back. “When Theerayut turned up, speaking as his concerned elder, I warned him against wandering off alone as he was new to the area. However, Theerayut was unhappy with my warning and hit me,” he told police later.
“We started fighting but I was no match for his strength. I brought out a knife I carry and stabbed him once in the neck,” he said. CCTV cameras show Banjerd calmly leaving the temple and heading for home by foot.
The pair had started work for Mr Pratheep a few days before after Banjerd, who has known the contractor for about 10 years, responded to a job ad he left on his social media account. He brought along Theerayut, whom he had met the month previously in Nonthaburi. The trio were working on a rented place behind Naresuan University.
Theerayut and Banjerd are both former jailbirds who served time for drug offences. Banjerd has been free for about a year, and his friend for just a month. Mr Pratheep said that when he returned from his booze run, the two had already fought and he found Theerayut lying in a pool of blood. He tried to help him but he was already dead. It is not clear who called the police.
“I went home, and Banjerd called. I urged him to surrender and he agreed. I picked him up the next morning and we went to the police,” he said. Police charged Banjerd with murder with intent.
Boy makes do with picture
A little boy who missed his late Dad on Father’s Day spoke to his framed portrait instead.
Thais were moved when a Trang mother, Pikul Sriprapai, 31, posted to TikTok a clip of her six-year-old son, Adisak, or “Man U”, chatting to his dad’s picture on Dec 5.
The boy’s father, Pol Sgt Panumas Sriprapai, from Rueso police station in Narathiwat, died in a Feb 3 insurgent attack. Reporters from Amarin TV paid the family a visit after the TikTok clip went viral. Nong Man U also has a baby sister, aged one.
Ms Pikul said Man U misses his dad, but is strong of heart and has seldom cried since. However, he has taken to talking to his framed photograph at home.
On Father’s Day every year Man U would give his father a wai of respect. Whenever he was visiting home, his dad would take his son on outings to the seaside, water park, the zoo and his favourite fast-food restaurant, Ms Pikul said. They were together constantly.
However, this year, his father is no longer with them, so Man U chose to speak to his father’s picture instead.
On Dec 5, Ms Pikul noticed her son in an upstairs bedroom chatting to the portrait and quietly filmed the scenes on her phone camera. “Today is Father’s Day. Dad isn’t with Man U anymore,” the little boy said, referring to himself in the third person. “Dad is above in the sky. Do you think of Man U?
“Man U misses his dad. He promises to be a good boy and try hard at school. Man U loves his dad.”
Earlier that day, the picture fell down from its perch on the wall. The boy’s grandmother told him to take it to the second-floor bedroom. Ms Pikul said Man U took it up but didn’t come down again.
“At 6pm I went upstairs to call him down for dinner and overheard him talking to his dad. He was there for ages.
“I felt sorry for my son. The scene brought me to tears and when he was finished, I gave him a hug,” she said.
When Pol Sgt Panumas was still with them, he had talked about the possibility that one day he might not come home. “He asked me to do whatever I could to help make our son’s dreams come true,” she said. “I will do my best.”
The little boy told reporters that he’d like to be a doctor when he grows up, as they are paid well.
“If my dad is watching, I want to say that I miss him. I will be a good kid, and help Mum bring up my little sister,” he said.