Man arrested for Koh Kaew murder
PHUKET CITY: Police have arrested and charged one of two suspects wanted for the beating murder of a disabled man in Koh Kaew on the night of September 2.
Police identified the suspect as Somyot Longlode, 22, apprehended in Phang Nga’s Koh Yao District at about 5 pm Thursday night.
Case investigator Pol Lt Theeradet Jiraksa of Phuket City Police told the Gazette that Somyot, together with a friend who is still at large, set upon 23-year-old Somchai Mingpijaan and left him unconscious on the side of Thepkrasattri Rd about 8:30 pm.
K. Somchai, an employee of the Michelin tire store on the bypass road and who was lame in one leg, died en route to hospital.
The exact cause of death has yet to be reported, but the victim had been badly bruised and suffered a gash to the side of his head, police said.
Lt Theeradet said that the dispute arose as Somyot and his friend were waiting outside the TMT mobile phone shop, across from the Isuzu showroom in Koh Kaew.
Four or five people were waiting in front of the shop because the owner had stepped out momentarily and locked the front door, he said.
Contrary to previous reports and the presence of scattered beer bottles after the attack, the group had not been drinking together and for the most part were complete strangers, he added.
Among the group was Somyot, who was waiting to redeem his mobile phone, and his friend. An argument broke out during which Somyot and his friend began yelling at another young man, also waiting for the store to reopen.
The cause of the argument is still unknown, Lt Theeradet said.
K. Somchai, sitting on a stone bench in front of the shop, tried to intervene. Well known in Koh Kaew, K. Somchai told the pair that they shouldn’t try to throw their weight around in an area where they were strangers.
With that, Somyot and his friend left on a single motorbike before returning to throw a beer bottle at K. Somchai. They then set upon him with a length of wood. There were onlookers to the beating, but none intervened, Lt Theeradet added.
Police questioned the mobile phone shop owner, who said K. Somyot had left an address on Koh Yao Yai on the documents relating to the pawning of the mobile phone. Somyot is a resident of Tambon Ao Leuk, Krabi, he explained.
Saying he didn’t want to jeopardize the investigation, Lt Theeradet declined to give the name of the second suspect, but said that his identity was known and that a warrant for his arrest had been issued.
K. Somyot, who has been charged with premeditated murder, remains in custody at Phuket City Police Station.
