Really tough love

NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: Some parents learn too late that the time to teach their offspring some discipline is when they are still young. The retired cop who pulled a out a .22 caliber pistol and shot his only son on the afternoon of March 4 in Thoong Song District may be one such parent. When police arrived at the scene, rescue workers had already removed the body of the 36-year-old victim, Kamthon Sooksrinuan, who was found lying face down in a pool of blood. Although still breathing when the rescue workers arrived, he died en route to the hospital. When police finally reached the two-story townhouse in Tambon Pak Praek, they found the gate wide open and 76-year old retired Pol Sgt Maj Tin Sooksrinuan sitting with a licensed .22 revolver in his hand. “I did it,” said the elderly cripple. “I pulled the trigger.” Sgt Maj Tin told the arresting officers, who serve in the same department as he once did, that he was a widower and that Kamthon was the eldest of his two children. Kamthon had married and had children of his own, but then separated from his wife. The pensioner reported that his other child, a daughter, often stopped by to help around the house. K.Kamthon came by too, he said, but it wasn’t to help out. Rather, it was to hang out and become strung-out on a cocktail of booze and pot. “He used to steal my pension money too,” said the old man. “We had violent arguments all the time – you can just ask the neighbors,” he said. Sgt Maj Tin was alone on the morning of March 4 because his daughter had gone off to sell things at the market. Kamthon arrived, drunk as usual, and looking for more money so he could continue his drinking binge. When Sgt Maj Tin refused to give him any, the son flew into a rage. “He started smashing things up inside the home,” said the old man with tears in his eyes. “Then he started walking right toward me.” Despite his advancing years, the old policeman’s instincts for self-preservation were demonstrably still intact. He picked up his .22 sidearm, which was conveniently lying beneath the bed beside him, and fired off some warning shots. The first five missed – as warning shots are meant to do – but the sixth hit his son, ripping into one of his lungs and causing him to collapse. “I am really old now, and I can’t even walk. But if you have to put me in jail, then I am willing to go,” Sgt Maj Tin told the officers, who then carried him to the waiting police truck.