Dead man was stabbed 25 times

PHUKET: The body of an unidentified man was found yesterday in a tin-roofed shack near the deserted Phya Thai Phuket Hospital building. Pol Lt Parichat Jaturonpun of Phuket Town Police Station said that the victim, estimated to have been between 25 and 30 years old, had been dead for at least seven hours when found. He said that the body was lying face down in a pool of blood in the middle of the shack. The dead man was wearing shorts and a white T-shirt, which had been pulled up over his head. Examination of the corpse showed that the victim had been stabbed twice in the neck, three times in the upper chest, 12 times in his stomach and eight times in the hands. The weapon used appears to have been a sharpened steel reinforcing bar, Lt Parichat said. The police believe the man may have been murdered in a dispute related to the ya bah (methamphetamine) trade.