Man injured in Phuket teen drive-by shooting

PHUKET: Police are struggling to establish a motive in the drive-by shooting of a man in Thalang this morning, allegedly carried out by Phuket teenagers.

Officers arrived at the scene, on the Baan Ya-Baan Don Road, at about 7am to find a motorbike parked in front of a resident’s house and a blood stain on the ground.

“The 49-year-old victim, Songwit Vinyupradit, had already been taken to Thalang Hospital,” said Lt Col Sanit Nukong of the Thalang Police.

Mr Songwit, a resident of Baan Don, told officers that he was shot by two teenagers riding a motorcycle in the opposite direction at about 6:45am.

“After shooting him, they rode off,” said Col Sanit. “Mr Songwit continued for about 300 meters before pulling over and sitting on the ground. That’s when the owner of the house came out and found him.”

Mr Songwit was shot once in the waist and once in the buttocks.

“One bullet glanced off his belt,” Col Sanit told the Phuket Gazette.

None of Mr Songwit’s injuries were critical. There was an entrance and exit wound for the bullet that hit him in the buttocks. However, he had to be transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital for surgery to remove the bullet from his waist, Col Sanit said.

“Mr Songwit said that he did not recognize the two suspects, but we will investigate every possibility of why this attack was carried out,” he noted.

Plainclothes officers have also been assigned to assist the investigation, Col Sanit said.

— Thawit Bilabdullar