Businessman gunned down on Sakdidet Rd

WICHIT, PHUKET: Phuket city police are investigating the murder of a local businessman shot to death in his car last night.

The murder was reported to Phuket City Police at about 10:15 pm.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong rushed to the scene with Phuket City Police, forensics officers and rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation.

At the scene, near the Chinese cemetery on Sakdidet Rd, a large crowd of onlookers had already formed around a Bangkok-registered Toyota Fortuner, the engine of which was still running.

The driver’s side window had three bullet holes.

Opening the door, they found the car stereo still playing and the cabin splattered with blood.

The body of the victim, 33-year-old Kiatisak Rakchue, was found lying face down over the passenger’s side seat and gear shift.

Mr Kiatisak, a resident of Sakdidet Rd in Wichit, was part owner of a car care business located nearby on Chao Fa East Rd in Phuket City.

He had been shot three times by 9mm bullets, once in the right shoulder, once in the chest and once in the ribs.

Three bullet casings found on the ground about three meters from the vehicle were collected as evidence.

Mr Kiatisak’s body was taken to Wachira Phuket Hospital.

Witnesses said the victim had parked the vehicle and went to drink beer at an unnamed convenience store about 20 meters away from the murder scene.

He went back to the car and had already started the engine when his assailant pulled up on a motorcycle and fired three times though the driver’s side window before fleeing.

No description of the attacker was provided and it is not even known if there was more than one assailant on the motorbike.

Police think the motive for the murder may have been a business or personal dispute, as the victim was known to be a strong-willed, outspoken individual.

They will now question the victim’s wife, business partner and friends, and try to track down the killer.

— KomChadLuek