Crime Elderly Man Shoots Thai Village Headman Dead in Long-Running Feud

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of ThaiRath.

 

A 72-year-old man has been arrested after fatally shooting a local headman in Bueng Kan province, in what police say was the culmination of a years-long feud.

 

Police were alerted to the shooting early on the morning of 23 April. Officers from Sri Wilai Police Station, along with rescue personnel and a hospital medical examiner, arrived at the scene in Moo 4, Huai Lik Santisuk village, Chum Phu Phon subdistrict, where they discovered the body of Mr. Piyanat Sianglam, 53, lying on the roadside. He had sustained fatal shotgun wounds to the head and right shoulder.

 

 

Mr. Piyanat, who served as the headman of Chum Phu Phon, had reportedly been involved in repeated disputes with his neighbour, Mr. Kam Muang Suwantrai, the suspected gunman. Witnesses and relatives confirmed a history of animosity between the two men.

 

According to Mr. Kam Muang, he had long felt threatened and humiliated by the victim, claiming the headman had repeatedly insulted, harassed, and even threatened to have him killed. On the morning of the incident, Mr. Kam Muang saw the headman in front of his garden and, overwhelmed by long-standing resentment, shot him from the second floor of his home using a shotgun. He then went inside to bathe and later confessed to police.

 

A search of the suspect’s home led to the discovery of a long-barrelled shotgun and a used 12-gauge shell concealed under a blanket on his bed. Mr. Kam Muang admitted to owning and using the weapon in the killing. He told police he had bought the gun five years earlier for 7,000 baht from an unknown man for personal protection.

 

Neighbours confirmed the ongoing feud, citing frequent verbal altercations over parked vehicles, livestock, and property boundaries. Mr. Kam Muang, who reportedly suffers from stress-related health issues, lived with his grandson while his daughter and son-in-law stayed at a rubber plantation.

 

The headman’s mother, 72-year-old Mrs. Wipat Sianglam, recounted numerous past conflicts stemming from shared community space and animal husbandry. She described her son as hot-tempered but kind-hearted, while characterising the suspect as deeply resentful and prone to violent outbursts.

 

On the morning of the killing, the headman had reportedly stopped by his garden to feed his horse before taking his daughter to a medical appointment. While picking up a fallen Thai flag from his fence, he was shot.

 

Police have ruled out other motives, including political or official duties and charged Mr. Kam Muang with murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. He is currently in custody and awaiting further legal proceedings.

 

The victim’s body has been released to his family for funeral rites.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from ThaiRath 2025-04-24.

 

 

 

 

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