Shotgun slaying by after-dinner killer

THALANG: A dinner with family and friends ended in the execution-style shotgun murder of a local leader at Nai Thon last night. Somboon Panyawai, 44, Kamnan of Baan Saku, was blasted as he walked across the road to return to his car parked about 40 meters away. His wife was already in the car. Police believe the killer, waiting among trees, stepped out and gunned down K. Somboon with a blast that struck him behind the ear and in the shoulder, arm and torso. Shotgun pellets lodged in his skull. Pol Lt Col Jakrit Srisuwan, chief of Tah Chatchai Police Station, told the Gazette that K. Somboon went to have dinner at a friend’s house about 6 pm. At 9 pm he headed back to the family car. His wife, Prapai, had already turned the car in the direction of the airport and was awaiting her husband. As K. Somboon crossed the road, his wife heard the sound of a gun and saw her husband fall. “She told the police that she didn’t hear a vehicle driving off,” Lt Col Jakrit said. “It’s likely that the gunman was waiting for him in the forest. “His wife and friends helped to bring him to the hospital but he lost a lot of blood and died on the way.”