Phuket Survivor: Man Survives Slaughter By ‘Playing Dead’

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Phuket Survivor: Man survives slaughter by ‘playing dead’

Forensic Police examine the Krabi-registered pickup truck from which

the victims are thought to have been abducted.

PHUKET: -- Phuket police are investigating the murder of a man and woman whose bodies were discovered thrown off a cliff along a coastal road in Thalang this morning.

The key witness, a man who apparently escaped the same fate by playing dead, is now in police custody and under heavy guard.

Tah Chat Chai Police were notified of the deaths at 8:30am by villagers just south of Nai Thon Beach.

The villagers were alerted to the deaths by the man, reportedly also the target of the multiple homicide.

The man told them that after he regained consciousness, he scaled eight meters up the cliff to the road in search of help.

He alerted police to the location of the two bodies, which were pinned against trees near the waterline.

One of the victims was a Thai man in handcuffs. He apparently died from a gunshot wound.

The other victim was a woman whose eyes were covered in a makeshift blindfold and her hands were bound by rope.

She apparently died of a blow to the head with a blunt object.

Kusoldharm Foundation workers arrived to begin the difficult task of recovering the bodies.

Police have released little information about the case, except to say that a pickup truck used by the victims was found near the Muang Thalang School.

They have not released the identities of the two deceased or the survivor.

Kusoldharm Foundation workers transported the bodies to Thalang Hospital for further examination and to be claimed by relatives.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-05-31

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Phuket Survivor: Man recounts murder ordeal

Police examine the pickup the three were abducted in.

PHUKET: -- The man who allegedly survived an attack in which his wife and another man were killed has said the trio were attacked by a group of men.

Sanit Choocheun, a 54-year-old construction contractor from Krabi, said he survived the attack by playing dead.

The bodies of Mr Sanit’s wife, Urai Limsakul, 50, and the other man, named only as 'Lek', were found this morning at the bottom of an eight-meter seaside cliff south of Nai Thon Beach.

The victims’ truck with Krabi license plates, Bor Chor 4233, was found near Baan Pa Khlok Cheep. There were blood stains in the bed and inside the truck, police said.

Ms Urai's hands were tied behind her back. She had a gunshot wound and appeared to have been hit in the head with a “heavy” object.

Mr Lek had been shot once in the head and once in the chest, and his throat was slashed, police said.

Mr Sanit claimed in his statement to police to have luckily escaped the same fate, Lt Col Rassada Kleungwong of Tah Chat Chai Police said.

According to the police report, Mr Sanit said, “I came from Krabi to pick up my wife and Mr Lek. When I was returning to Krabi last night, someone called my wife and asked to meet at Baan Pa Khlok Cheep Road.

“However, when we arrived there many men were waiting for us,” Mr Sanit said.

“They tied all three of us up – our hands and our feet – and blindfolded us before pushing us into a car and taking us somewhere. They stopped and then I heard someone hitting Lek and Urai. Then I heard gunfire,” he said.

“Then the men started beating me, so I pretended to be dead. I was hoisted into the air and I could feel myself falling. Then I heard a car start and drive off.

“I managed to undo the rope binding my hands and feet and removed the blindfold, and climbed back up to the road,” he said.

Police said they are not convinced Mr Sanit’s statement is entirely accurate and are investigating the attack in line with three potential motives: a construction business deal gone wrong, drugs, and adultery.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-06-01

[LivinginKata]

Phuket double murder was drug deal gone sour

Sittipong re-enacts how Sanit's hands were tied as Police Maj Gen Pekad looks on. Photo: Chutharat Plerin

Sanit Choocheun allegedly survived the murder attempt by playing dead. Photo: Chutharat Plerin

PHUKET: Police have arrested two men for their part in the murders of a man and a woman whose bodies were dumped over a beachfront cliff in Nai Thon before dawn on Tuesday morning.

Sittipong Chareonrak and Ammarin Pantip were presented to the media today at a press conference at Tah Chat Chai Checkpoint.

The men were identified by Sanit Choocheun, 49, who allegedly survived the attack, said Tah Chat Chai Police Superintendent Sakchai Limcharoen

Sanit identified Sittipong and Ammarin and six other people involved in the killings by viewing a police book of known offenders, he said.

Sittipong stands accused of two counts of murder while Ammarin has been arrested for driving the bodies to where they were dumped.

The two men have confessed to their role in the killings, said Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong.

Meanwhile police have launched a manhunt for six other persons involved, he added.

Gen Pekad said Sanit told police that on Monday night he drove from Krabi with his wife Urai Limsakul and his friend Somporn “Lek” Kumgert.

The three travelled hundreds of kilometers to meet Pairin “Joom” Yaemtim at a bungalow in Sakoo. With Joom were Sittipong and Ammarin, now arrested, and another man, Nattawut Yaming, the police commander said.

All seven then moved to a shack in a rubber plantation in Thalang around midnight on Monday, explained Gen Pekad.

At the shack, the party of seven were joined by four more men: Joom’s husband So-lae Wongsa-ard, another man named Kittisak Wongsa-ard (relationship with So-lae not established) as well as Apirat Koomban and a man named by police only as “Mard”.

While talking in the shack, members of the group were taking ya bah (methamphetamine), said Gen Pekad.

Then a fight broke out between Mr So-lae and Mr Lek about their “drug dealing business”, he said.

“They could not make a deal, so So-lae ordered his men to kill Mr Sanit, Mrs Urai and Mr Lek,” said Gen Pekad.

“The three victims were tied up and blindfolded, then beaten. Mrs Urai and Mr Lek were unconscious, while Mr Sanit pretended to be dead.

“The men moved the three victims to the back of the pickup truck, then shot dead two of them, Mrs Urai and Mr Lek,” said the commander.

Gen Pekad did not elaborate on whether any attempt was made to shoot Mr Sanit.

“The men drove to a cliff near Nai Thon Beach and threw the victims over the edge,” he said.

Sittipong and Ammarin today conducted a re-enactment of the crime after the press conference.

Police are continuing their investigation and searching for the six others involved in the murders, Gen Pekad said.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-06-03