Gunfire Silences Phuket Construction Clamor, Says Swede

[webfact]

Gunfire silences Phuket construction clamor, says Swede

Mr Hjort and Ms Waleeporn at Phuket City Police Station this morning.

PHUKET: -- A Phuket estate manager terrified a team of Thai workers when he fired warning shots over their heads in an effort to get them to stop making noise yesterday morning, says the construction team’s foreman.

Swede Mike Hjort and Songkhla native Waleeporn Chinpised, both 41, appeared at Phuket City Police Station to file a complaint against Seree Duangsuwan.

The couple told Duty Officer Jetsuda Saensuree that Mr Seree fired a series of gunshots over their heads as they and their team of workers were doing contract construction work on a home in The View villa estate near the Khao Khad Viewpoint in Wichit.

“Me and my eight staff were working repairing a house on the project yesterday morning. Some workers were cutting lumber needed to make the repairs. At around 9:30am, [estate manager] Seree Duangsuwan came from [his house] across the street and told us to keep quiet and stop working.

“But I told him he was not my boss and that if he had any problems he should contact the house owner.

“Instead he asked me to call the owner, but I didn’t call. Then he asked me to fight him, but I told him I came here to work, not fight,” said the Swede.

“He also told us to stop work, saying we could only work in the afternoon and could not work at all the following day,” he said.

Time is money in the construction trade, so as soon as Mr Seree departed the workers resumed their work.

“That’s when he came out of his house with a gun and fired warning shots into the sky above our heads,” he said.

Mr Suree fired two volleys of five rounds each as staff were working on the roof.

“One of our female staff panicked and fell off a ladder. She is in hospital now,” Mr Hjort said.

The woman, Ms “Gee” suffered only a light sprain.

Even as the staff were ending their day’s work, at about 4:30pm Mr Suree was walking about brandishing his firearm, said the Swede.

Mr Hjort called his wife Waleeporn Chinpised, who contacted the police.

They appeared for questioning this morning and were happy to share their story with the media.

Mr Hjort, who has been living in Phuket for 22 years, said, “I have no idea why he acted that way. We are afraid to work on the project now as he is still walking around with a gun like a crazy man.”

Two of his workers have already said they were too afraid to return to the site, he added.

Ms Waleeporn said the team tried to minimize disturbance to neighbors by doing the noisy work in the afternoon.

“But yesterday we were nearly finished, so we wanted to get the job done,” she said.

As an act of intimidation, the shooting was effective.

“After he fired, we called for the home owner’s assistance and decided to do some other work that did not make noise for the rest of the morning,” she said.

“Actually, we have another repair job scheduled in another house nearby, but we chose to cancel it,” she added.

Police accepted the complaint and said they would call in Mr Suree for questioning, she said.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article10915.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-09-02

[AlanL1275]

<deleted>

They should not have to call him to ask questions after the gunshots. He should be in jail, and they should go to his jail cell and ask questions. Plus inform him he needs a lawyer, and plenty of money, to hope to get out of this crime without prison time.

[WarpSpeed]

Gotta feel for the guy, if he finally complained at 9:30 they were probably out there since 7:30 or maybe even earlier and he'd finally had enough. Had that happen here several times and especially on the weekend with little sleep I've felt like doing something similar. Lost sleep has a way of driving people over the edge, for the Swedes sake I hope he has a work permit I didn't know they gave out work permits for construction work..

[Nip]

Gotta feel for the guy, if he finally complained at 9:30 they were probably out there since 7:30 or maybe even earlier and he'd finally had enough. Had that happen here several times and especially on the weekend with little sleep I've felt like doing something similar. Lost sleep has a way of driving people over the edge, for the Swedes sake I hope he has a work permit I didn't know they gave out work permits for construction work..

The 'Sweed' is a carpenter and perhaps not the greatest I have come across. You will notice from the photos he is missing a few digits I think it is on his left hand. He also wont win any awards for his social skills, Surprised that he did not run away which is his normal practice from difficult work problems?

[aechzen]

<deleted>

They should not have to call him to ask questions after the gunshots. He should be in jail, and they should go to his jail cell and ask questions. Plus inform him he needs a lawyer, and plenty of money, to hope to get out of this crime without prison time.

Seree he lucky , he talk to a sweden man , if talk to a austrian like this , maybe Seree get shoot with his own gun

[rotary]

Hmmm I knew there were a few missing details

[sanukma]

<deleted>

They should not have to call him to ask questions after the gunshots. He should be in jail, and they should go to his jail cell and ask questions. Plus inform him he needs a lawyer, and plenty of money, to hope to get out of this crime without prison time.

Seree he lucky , he talk to a sweden man , if talk to a austrian like this , maybe Seree get shoot with his own gun

HAHAHAAH those badass austrians are so scary

[boggle]

work permit? carpentry is not a banned trade for non thais?

[webfact]

Phuket estate manager denies gun charges

For safety's sake, Swede Mike Hjort will not have his Phuket construction crew

resume work until the matter is resolved.

PHUKET: -- Police have confiscated the gun of a Phuket housing estate manager who is accused of using it to intimidate a construction team into stopping their noisy work.

The estate manager felt the work was "too noisy".

Phuket Police are now investigating whether the gun license he produced is genuine.

Seree Duangsuwan arrived at Phuket City Police Station for questioning last Friday after Swede Mike Hjort and Songkhla native Waleeporn Chinpised filed a complaint on the same day.

The pair claimed that Mr Seree fired a gun into the air after they refused to order their construction team to stop work.

Lt Col Jessada Sansuree of Phuket City Police told the Phuket Gazette yesterday, “Mr Seree came in for questioning along with Mr Hjort, but Mr Seree has denied the charges against him, which are threatening people and carrying and firing a firearm in public.”

Lt Col Jessada explained that Mr Seree had handed in his gun license, which police have sent to Kathu District Office to be verified.

“If the license turns out to be fake, this case will then be taken to court,” he said.

The incident happened while work was being done on a home within 'The View' villa estate near Khao Khad Viewpoint, where Mr Seree is manager.

Mr Hjort alleged that Mr Seree had complained about the wood cutting noise in the morning and then attempted to start a physical confrontation.

After Mr Seree left, the team resumed work only to see him returning with a gun and firing shots into the air, Mr Hjort said.

“Since the shooting, we have not resumed work on the project. We will continue our work [only] if the house owner discusses the situation with the people overseeing the project,” he added.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article10946.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-09-10

[stevenl]

There were many witnesses, so should be easy to determine if he fired or not.