Reporter slain execution-style

PATONG: A newspaper and TV reporter was killed by two shots to the head in an execution-style killing in Patong early this morning. Surapong “Od Patong” Rittee, 43, was gunned down by two .38 rounds fired close to his left ear as he was walking out of the Aree Karnka mini-mart on Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd at 3:30 am. His death follows similar killings in Phuket and throughout Thailand that police have linked to a crackdown by drug overlords, fearful of underlings confessing all during the national campaign against illegal drugs. K. Surapong was a reporter for the Thai Rat daily national newspaper, Siang Tai local daily newspaper and TV Channel 3. He also had many business interests around Patong, including a cigarette dealership and a prawn farm, as well as rental housing and connections with the entertainment industry. The owner of the mini-mart told the police that the killer was a large man with pale skin in a yellow T-shirt. He hung around for a while and bought some drinking water before gunning down his victim. Pol Capt Sanakorn Munmuang, Chief of the investigation team at Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that police believe K. Surapong was probably killed because he was aware of many illegal dealings in Patong, some of them connected to drugs. “We don’t yet know exactly why he was killed,” Capt Sanakorn said. “All motives are possible at this stage.”