Third fisherman murdered in 48 hours

PHUKET TOWN: A man believed to be a Burmese fisherman was found dead in front of the entrance of the P. Pichai raft on Soi Si Sena in Phuket’s fishing port early yesterday morning. He was the third person to be murdered in the area in a period of 48 hours. Pol Capt Kanuang Pitakkulthorn of Phuket Town Police Station told the Gazette that the man, as yet unidentified, was wearing a gray shirt and blue tracksuit pants. He died from 11 stab wounds to his face, chest and stomach. As with earlier murders in the port, Pol Capt Kanuang believes the wounds were inflicted with a sharpened steel reinforcing bar. The man is estimated to have been 20-23 years old. He is thought to have died at least an hour before his body was found, at around 1.20 am. A witness told the police he had seen the victim drinking “lao khao” (Thai spirits) with about five or six other people near the entry to the raft. A fight broke out and the witness saw the victim running away, pursued by the others. There was no identification on the body, but the witness told the police that the man was Burmese, and had worked on a boat based at the fishing port. The dead man was the ninth person found murdered in the area of the fishing port this year. On Saturday morning, police found the bodies of two more men, also thought to be Burmese, brutally murdered in similar fashion.