Phuket landlord, son, slain in lease dispute

PHUKET: A Phuket landlord and her son were gunned down in front of their family home in Thung Thong yesterday afternoon amid a heated a dispute over continuing a lease for a local curry shop that sold sugarcane juice.

Police arrived at the scene (map here) at about 4:30pm to find Boonlet Thanom-anantakun, 42, standing next to the house with a .38 caliber handgun still in his hand.

The bodies of Puangrut Thiratantayaporn, 58, and her son Worapatr, 36, lay in the driveway.

“Mr Worapatr, who worked as front desk staff at a hotel in Patong, was shot in the chest, right arm, through the back and once in the head,” said Maj Sakchai Chunyong of the Thung Thong Police.

“The body of his mother was lying meters away. She had been shot in the neck, the left arm and once in the left hand.”

Officers found many spent .38 caliber bullet casings scattered at the scene.

Mr Boonlet’s wife watched, still holding her 2-year-old son, as the horrific events unfolded.

“Over a week ago, they had an argument about us not keeping the restaurant clean enough. The landlord said she would not let us continue to rent the place and the lease will expire at the end of this month,” she told the Phuket Gazette.

“Boonlet went to talk to Mrs Puangrut to ask her to continue renting the shop to us. Meanwhile, Mr Worapatr came home from work and he joined the conversation.

“They talked for a while, then Boonlet pulled his gun out and start shooting Mr Worapatr until he fell to the ground.

“I was so shocked. I think Mrs Puangrut was too; she didn’t move at all. Then Boonlert reloaded the gun and killed her next.”

Ms Puangrut’s husband was at home, but kept himself in the house throughout the shootings.

Even after police arrived, he remained inside the family home.

“We believe he is still in shock. We will question him later,” an officer at the scene told the Gazette.