Building site murder suspect arrested in Bangkok

PHUKET (RASSADA): After a six-week manhunt, police in Bangkok on December 4 arrested a suspect in the shooting murder of building contractor Manoon Pramoonsilp at a work site off Thepkrasattri Rd in Rassada.

The suspect, 50-year-old construction materials salesman Suchart Sae-lee, confessed to killing Mr Manoon with a single .38 caliber bullet to his right temple following a dispute over an unpaid invoice that dated back over a year, he told police.

Mr Suchart, a resident of Bangkok’s Bang Khun Thian District, confessed to charges of premeditated murder as well as several weapons violations.

In the late morning of October 21, Mr Suchart took a motorbike to a site where two-storey townhouses were being built by Mr Manoon, 41, at the entrance to Soi Kiatisin 8, off Thepkrasattri Rd in Tambon Rassada.

Mr Suchart had been sent by his company to collect a debt for electric cable and PVC pipe ordered by Mr Manoon for the project. That morning he heard that Mr Manoon, a resident of Wichit Village 3, had withdrawn 200,000 baht in cash from the bank, he told police.

However, when confronted Mr Manoon still refused to pay and told the salesman he could strip out all the cable and piping and take it with him if he wanted, according to the report.

Mr Suchart then drew his .38 Smith & Wesson pistol in an attempt to threaten Mr Manoon into paying. A struggle for the weapon ensued and Mr Manoon died instantly when the gun discharged into his right temple at close range.

Mr Suchart said he then fled to Ocean Shopping Mall, where he stayed until closing time at 10 pm. From there, he successfully fled the island across the Sarasin Bridge on his motorbike, throwing the murder weapon into a roadside rubber plantation in Phang Nga’s Tambon Khok Kloy.

He then drove on to Surat Thani, where he parked his Phuket-registered motorbike and called his wife, telling her to come pick it up.

Mr Suchart then returned to Bang Khun Thian District in Bangkok, where he was finally arrested.