Rubber plantation horror: Hunt underway for murderer of Thai and Burmese victims

Police are currently conducting a search for the murderer responsible for the deaths of a Thai man and three Burmese men in a rubber plantation in the Sawee district of Chum Phon province in the southern part of Thailand.

A 42 year old man, Surachai Somnuek, discovered the dead body of his father, 60 year old Prayong Somnuek, on the road leading to his house yesterday morning, July 16, and reported the discovery to the officers at Nasak Police Station.

Upon arriving at the scene, investigating officers discovered Prayong’s body lying face-up on the road, a mere 200 metres away from his home. He was dressed in black shorts and a plaid shirt. The perpetrator had callously covered his body with coconut leaves.

Prayong sustained more than 20 gunshot wounds to his face, body, and arms. The police believed he died about ten hours before his discovery. Two bullet shells were discovered nearby his body.

Surachai explained that he did not live with his father as he worked in another province but returned home because he could not contact his father for days. While he was driving on the road, he noticed coconut leaves on the road and checked on them, eventually leading to his father’s blood-covered body.

Surachai revealed that his father had never mentioned any conflicts he may have had with anyone. Nevertheless, he had heard from relatives that Prayong had engaged in an argument with a man named Praphan Narksi, whom he suspected might be a murderer.

Prayong’s younger sister, 50 year old Chanram Boonjohn, also suspects Praphan is the murderer. She claimed that Praphan was aggressive, and always threatened others with a gun, especially migrant workers.

While officers were investigating the scene, locals reached out to them to report the discovery of three more deaths. All of the deaths were Burmese men who worked at a nearby plantation. They had been shot dead. One of the bodies was charred from burning.

The dead man’s employer, 59 year old Boonlert Saitrai, also believes Praphan is the murderer because he previously blamed his employees for stealing his products and threatened them with his gun.

Police officers are not convinced that Praphan is the murderer. They said they would gather more information before making an arrest.