Karon –
A man died from a gunshot wound in front of a hotel in Karon on New Year’s Day. A suspect was immediately arrested.
The Karon Police told the Phuket Express that they were notified of the incident at 4:30 A.M. on the New Year morning (January 1st) in front of an unidentified hotel on the Kok Tanod Road. Police, rescue workers, and the Phuket Express arrived at the scene to find a pool of blood on the ground in front of the hotel. The injured victim, Mr. Anupong Panpeng, 30, had already been taken to a hospital but tragically later passed away.
Unidentified witnesses told Karon police that Mr. Anupong had a previous conflict with the suspect before. Mr. Anupong thought that the suspect liked his girlfriend in which they worked at the same hotel. In November of last year, 2023, Mr. Anupong argued with the suspect furiously over this issue and warned the suspect to stay away from his girlfriend.
On the New Year morning (January 1st) Mr. Anupong went to pick up his girlfriend after work at the hotel. However, the suspect had finished work earlier, gone home to get a firearm, and came back to the hotel with the gun. He fired a single gunshot at Mr. Anupong when he arrived to pick up his girlfriend before speeding away.
At 7:00 A.M. the Karon Police arrested a man identified only as Mr. Num (alias), 32. Seized from him was a handmade handgun with one bullet. He was arrested at a rental room in Chalong within three hours. Mr. Num reportedly admitted to police that he shot Mr. Anupong because of their previous conflicts over the victim’s girlfriend.
Mr. Num remains in police custody as of press time. The name of the girlfriend was withheld for her privacy.
