Mentally ill Thai man stabs victim in Chon Buri mall

A mentally ill Thai man hit a fellow citizen in the head with a glass bottle and later stabbed the victim with the broken bottle at a shopping mall in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri on April 7.

Plutaluang Police Station officers received a report on the stabbing incident at about 3.30pm on Sunday, April 7 and quickly responded to the scene at the shopping mall in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri.

The mall’s security guards and shoppers managed to catch the 30 year old attacker, whose identity has not yet been made public.

The victim, a 61 year old man named Thanawat Photaeng, was rushed to Sattahip Hospital in a serious condition. He suffered stab wounds to his hand and neck.

Police reported to Channel 3 that the attacker had a mental illness and officers are trying to contact his family members to confirm his condition.

Channel 8 reported that the assault was captured by a security camera inside the shopping mall. The footage showed the mentally ill attacker, wearing a polo shirt, covered with a white long-sleeve shirt, walking directly to Thanawat and initiating the attack.

A mall employee, Nam, who witnessed the incident told the media that she heard people screaming and the sounds of a confrontation. She looked for the source of the noise and found the attacker, who appeared intoxicated, physically assaulting Thanawat.

Then, the attacker hit the victim on the head with a glass bottle before stabbing Thanawat in the neck with the broken bottle.

Nam recounted that the attacker shouted at the victim for harming his family members. He was heard shouting…

“You hurt my family! You really did it! You did it to my parents and siblings!”

Another woman informed Channel 3 that she observed the mentally ill attacker entering the mall quickly. He approached her, asking to borrow her phone, claiming something bad was going to happen in the mall. Feeling scared, she refused to lend him the phone and directed him to the mall staff.

The Thai police have not yet confirmed whether the attacker committed the crime due to a personal conflict with the victim, or if drugs or his mental illness influenced it. No charges have been filed against the attacker as yet and there have been no updates on the victim’s condition.