Suspect in Patong 7-Eleven shooting surrenders to police
PATONG: After meeting Patong Mayor Pian Keesin, the prime suspect in the shooting murder of a motorcycle-taxi driver in a 7-Eleven store handed himself in to police on Sunday night.
The suspect, Chainart Yuyen, 31, has denied any involvement in the murder.
About 2 am on Friday, motorcycle-taxi driver Satien Wongwai, 35, was shot twice in the back and once in the neck with a 9mm gun inside the 7-Eleven on Nanai Rd near the intersection with Sainamyen Rd.
By the time Kathu Police and rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Foundation arrived, K. Satien was dead.
His body was taken to Patong Hospital for examination.
A fourth shot fired in the store missed K. Sathien, according to witnesses who were there at the time.
The witnesses described the shooter as a dark-skinned, short-haired man wearing a white polo shirt and black jeans. After shooting K. Satien, he walked out of the store quickly and fled on a motorbike, they said.
Kathu Police Inspector Lt Col Chalermchai Hernsawas told the Gazette that police had an arrest warrant issued for Chainart on Saturday, but when they checked his parent’s home in Patong they were told he did not come home that night.
The suspect met Patong Mayor Pian Keesin early Sunday evening before turning himself over to Kathu Police Station about 8 pm. He was accompanied by relatives, who posted bail for him.
Col Chalermchai said police had learned that both men were motorcycle-taxi drivers, but members of different win (queues), both of which operate near the scene of the murder.
Friends of the victim confirmed that both men had been drinking at the same venue in Patong just before the killing.
With numerous eyewitnesses, police are confident they can prove Chainart followed K. Satien out of the place they were drinking and into the 7-Eleven, where he shot him at close range.
The victim’s friends said they had no idea why K. Satien was murdered, though they accepted that many thought him an unlikable character.
Police, who have yet to recover the murder weapon, have charged Chainart with premeditated murder and are continuing to gather evidence for the case against him.
