Old Thai man shoots 2 neighbours over stolen palm trees
Gunman believes victims stole trees from his plantation 3 years ago
A 79 year old Thai man shot two neighbours yesterday, June 22, in the southern province of Surat Thani, allegedly over a long-standing dispute involving stolen palm trees.
Police from Kanchanadit Police Station were called to the scene in the Chang Sai subdistrict of Kanchanadit district at 8.46am. Inside one home, officers found 88 year old Angsri critically injured with multiple gunshot wounds.
At a nearby residence, police discovered the body of 66 yea old Arnon, Angsri’s son, in a bedroom.
The gunman was their neighbour, identified as 79 year old Phimon, who lived approximately 300 metres from the victims. After the shooting, he fled his home, leaving behind his mobile phone and wallet with his 76 year old wife, Pongphan.
According to Arnon’s daughter, who witnessed the incident, she was awakened by the sound of gunfire. Upon investigations, she saw Phimon outside her father’s house. This prompted her to flee the scene and phone the police after seeing Phimon heading towards her grandfather’s house.
The woman said she shouted a warning for her grandfather to flee, but the elderly man was unable to escape in time.
Pongphan told police that she believed the motive for the killings stemmed from a three year old dispute. Phimon accused Angsri and Arnon of sneaking into his palm plantation, cutting down several palm trees, and selling them.
She said her husband repeatedly expressed his desire for revenge, stating that he would one day kill both men. Despite multiple attempts by community leaders and local influencers to mediate, Phimon had reportedly never forgiven the pair.
Pongphan added that she feared her husband might take his own life following the attack and contacted relatives to help search for him.
Officers reported in the evening yesterday that they managed to arrest the gunman, and he remains under questioning. Angsri’s wife insisted to the media that her husband did not steal anything from Phimon as he claimed.
Amarin TV reported that Ansri remains in critical condition at a hospital.
This incident comes just a week after a similar act of violent revenge in Ayutthaya province, where a man shot and killed his neighbour following a decade-long feud involving loud motorcycle noise and property disputes.
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