Phang Nga politician escapes Phuket assassination attempt

RASSADA: A Tambon Administration Organization (OrBorTor) President from Phang Nga survived what appeared to be a bungled attempt on his life on December 2, after he wrestled the gun away from his would-be assassin at the Phuket Rajabhat University campus.

Pol Maj Sarit Butnongsang told the Gazette that 41-year-old Sunit Vorakit, President of OrBorTor Tai Muang, reported to Phuket City Police Station that he had finished a class in the university’s science building about 2 pm and was about to get into his Mercedes-Benz when two men rode up to him on a black Honda Wave motorbike.

The man riding pillion got off the bike and called out to him in southern Thai dialect before pulling a 9mm pistol out of a bag and pointed it at him, he told police.

Knowing that he would be unable to get his own gun from inside the car in time, the politician grabbed the man’s arm and wrestled for control of the weapon, which caused both men to fall to the ground, Maj Sarit said.

K. Sunit then managed to stamp on the arm of his attacker, preventing him from firing, before running away. As Sunit fled, his attacker squeezed the trigger – but the gun misfired, Maj Sarit said

K. Sunit told police that he is enrolled in a master’s degree in public administration in the university’s weekend program.

Maj Sarit said that police are now looking for his two assailants, both described as dark-skinned and heavy set, and hope to arrest them soon.

As the intended victim was an OrBorTor President, work or politics are the suspected motives for the attack, he added.