Thai man shoots friend over fake gold necklace

A Thai man allegedly shot his friend at the weekend in a row over money and a gold necklace in the central province of Ayutthaya. The accused reportedly offered his friend a gold necklace as collateral for a money loan but the necklace turned out to be fake so the victim refused to loan his friend the money. An argument then broke out resulting in the gunman shooting his friend.

Uthai Police Station officers arrested the 41 year old gunman, Wanchai “Phueak” Deedpin, at his home after he shot his friend, 37 year old Date, outside a house in the Uthai district of Ayutthaya province on Saturday, March 16.

Date suffered serious injuries after being shot four times. An update on Date’s condition has not been reported by the police.

Phueak confessed to the crime but provided confused information to the police. According to the police report, Phueak pawned a gold necklace to Date on March 15. However, Date later discovered that the gold was counterfeit and only gave Phueak 20 baht in return.

Phueak told police that he returned home with 20 baht and thought it was not enough for him. He thought he should get more for his fake gold necklace and returned to Date on March 16 to ask for the accessory back.

According to Phueak, Date refused to return the necklace and insulted him with vulgar language. Enraged, Phueak shot Date four times before fleeing the scene on his motorcycle. He then surrendered the weapon used in the crime, a .38 Thai-made gun, to the police.

Following Phueak’s confession, the police transferred him to the hospital for further assessment of his mental health. They intend to investigate whether Phueak had previously received treatment for mental illness.

Phueak has been initially charged with attempted murder and violating the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearms.

For the attempted murder charge, Phueak would face half the penalty for the intentional murder. According to Section 288 of the Criminal Laws: killing another person shall result in the death penalty, life imprisonment or imprisonment from 15 to 20 years. Details of the punishment for the other charge were not disclosed.