Phuket –
A local shop owner has passed away after he was stabbed at his own grocery in Phuket Town following a suspected dispute with a former customer.
The Phuket City Police was notified of the incident at 1:30 A.M. on Saturday (May 6th) at a local Thai grocery on Sri Saena Road in Talad Yai sub-district.
Emergency responders and the Phuket Express arrived at the scene to find blood on the floor in front of the grocery. The injured party, who was the grocery store owner, Mr. Wanchai Butdee, 35, was taken to a nearby hospital where he was later sadly pronounced deceased.
Witnesses told Phuket City police that a man and a woman in a pickup truck stopped in front of the grocery. The man went straight to Mr. Wanchai without a discussion before stabbing and slashed him in his neck and head.
The suspects then sped away in the pickup truck.
Police later discovered that on May 2nd the same man and the woman were drinking alcohol at the grocery store and were asked to leave by Wanchai.
This led to a confrontation and stare-down between the suspects and a verbal altercation but the suspects eventually left the grocery store.
The male suspect was immediately identified by police as Mr. Taraphong ‘Jack’ Nepbua, 34 from Phatthalung.
Phuket City Police are still hunting for the suspect as of press time.
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