Thai man shoots dead best friend over alleged affair with girlfriend

A Thai man shot dead his best friend over an alleged affair with his teenage girlfriend. He immediately turned himself in at Bang Phli Police Station in Samut Prakarn province near Bangkok.

The 18 year old murderer, Phichate, yesterday, May 15, arrived at the police station with a gun in hand and confessed to murdering his 22 year old friend, Phongsathorn, at their shared home in Soi 1 in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakarn.

Police questioned Phichate while another team investigated the crime scene. They found Phongsathorn dead on his bed with multiple gunshot wounds to his neck, eye, and body. Drug paraphernalia was scattered all over the bedroom floor.

Phichate explained that he and the victim were close friends and often spent time together, so Phongsathorn knew his 14 year old girlfriend well. He had long suspected a secret relationship between them and recently discovered evidence of it.

Phichate discovered messages and pictures of the pair on his girlfriend’s phone, where he asserts she eventually confessed to the affair. Enraged, Phichate stormed into Phongsathorn’s room, woke him up, and fired four shots.

Then, Phichate took a motorcycle taxi to surrender at Bang Phili Police Station. The gun used by the alleged murderer was a modified blank gun, reportedly belonging to Phongsathorn’s friend. Phichate admitted to having depression and a history of physical altercations.

Phichate’s girlfriend denied the affair, calling it a misunderstanding. She insisted that she and the victim were just friends and never had a sexual relationship.

Phichate was charged under Section 288 of the Criminal Law: intentional murder. The punishment is the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment from 15 to 20 years. He also faces charges of violating the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearms, but the details of those charges were not revealed by officers from Bang Phili Police Station.