Phuket teen gunned down in Thalang

PHUKET: Thalang Police are investigating the shooting murder of a 13-year-old boy gunned down on a motorbike early this morning.

Thalang Police duty officer Krissana Juntanit received a report of a shooting just after midnight.

Capt Krissana, fellow police and rescue workers arrived at the scene, behind the Chinese shrine in the Ban Don area of Thepkrasattri subdistrict.

Local residents there said relatives had already rushed the boy to Thalang Hospital for emergency treatment.

When police arrived at the hospital medical staff were working furiously to keep the boy alive, but he died not long after arrival of four gunshot wounds to the back and thigh.

He was later identified by a friend as 13-year-old Surachai “Neung” Takuasook, a resident of Village 4, Thepkrasattri subdistrict, Thalang district.

Friends said that before the shooting Mr Surachai and two friends rode aboard a single motorbike to take a friend to Tha Reua, near the Heroines’ Monument.

As the pair were riding back near the Baan Khien Intersection, with Mr Surachai riding pillion, two youths on another bike approached from behind.

As the pair speed up to get away, shots rang out and the young Mr Surachai was hit.

Thalang Police are now investigating the motive of the shooting to bring the teenager’s assailants to justice.

— Wichai Witthawat