Man Behind Shooting Of Mp's Son Surrenders: Nakhon Ratchasima

[webfact]

Man behind shooting of MP's son surrenders

The Nation

Nakhon Ratchasima

Mun Poolsup re-enacts the shooting during a press conference held at the Provincial Police Bureau 3 yesterday. On the night of August 20, Mun allegedly shot and killed an MP

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: -- The man who allegedly shot dead an MP's son in a road-rage incident claimed yesterday that he did it in self-defence because he was fired at first.

Mun Poolsup, a construction contractor, told the press at 11am yesterday that somebody inside the sport-utility vehicle driven by Farut Thaiseth had fired at him first, so he shot back three times.

Mun surrendered to police on Thursday night and was presented to the media at the Provincial Police Bureau 3 yesterday. Guarding the press conference were 30 heavily armed police commandos.

On the night of August 20, Farut, son of Chart Thai Pattana Party MP Chada Thaiseth, was shot dead in his SUV during a family vacation at a resort in Khao Yai.

Mun explained that he was alone in his pickup truck, driving from a construction site in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district. He said he spotted the SUV ahead of him, so he flashed his front lights to signal that he wanted to overtake. However, after he overtook the SUV, its driver turned the high beam at him so he responded by turning on the spotlight in the rear of his truck.

He said when his pickup approached a curve, he heard gunshots and felt his vehicle being shot at several times. So he slowed down to let the SUV overtake him and then fired his 9mm pistol at it three times.

Mun said he saw the SUV crash into an electricity pole so he sped away and got rid of his pistol at Ban Kanongphra village in Pak Chong.

He then said he tried to go undercover in Bangkok, but after reading media reports that an MP's son had been killed in the incident, he decided to call Pol Colonel Phanu Buranasiri, deputy investigation chief of the Provincial Police Bureau 3, and offered to surrender.

Mun said he hoped he would receive fair treatment by police because he had shot in self-defence. He went on to say that he had bought the pistol for just Bt1,500 and did not have enough funds to fight a lawsuit against an MP. Also, he said, he did not have enough knowledge because he had only completed Grade 6.

The pickup truck was also presented to the media yesterday. Visible were six bullet holes - one each at the driver's console, the front-right wing, the rear right light, the edge of the front right wheel, front right light and to the left of the bonnet.

Assistant Police Commissioner-General Pol Lt-General Jarumporn Suramanee said more than 100 policemen had been deployed to look for the pistol at the location cited by Mun, but the gun had yet to be found.

Jarumporn also insisted that Mun was not a scapegoat because he had turned himself in, adding that one of Farut's friends would be charged with attempted murder for firing at Mun's pick-up truck.

He said the police would be fair to both sides and the final decision would depend on the courts.

-- The Nation 2012-09-01

[TheWalkingMan]

Road rage...

Guns fired because of high beams being flashed.

[submaniac]

Just sounds fishy. Where can anyone buy a gun for 1500 baht?

[BabySun]

We have saying:"give dynamite to monkey- what will happen? - she will blow up herself"

They shoot each other,like small boys during Songran water festival.

Another similar story a week ago:

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2012/08/30/police-closing-in-on-parking-lot-killer/

[LucidLucifer]

'He said the police would be fair to both sides and the final decision would depend on the courts.'

Yeh, right.

Fairness based on how much money and how powerful the connections each party involved has.

[LALes]

Oh, but he's a helpful defendant; just like the teenaged girl who killed 9 people in the van tragedy.

Gotta give him points for that.

[JanKlaasen]

Just sounds fishy. Where can anyone buy a gun for 1500 baht?

Well,if I knew I would have one myself.

[Sateev]

Murderous little brats, these kids of politicians. "You know who my daddy is???"

Hope his little buddy spends plenty of time in a provincial slammer, but I'm not holding my breath...

[OzMick]

I await the claims that it was obviously a botched assassination attempt because some police general said so.

[Tywais]

Just sounds fishy. Where can anyone buy a gun for 1500 baht?

Many years ago I was offered two for 500 Baht - one of them was hand made though.

[steveyinasia]

The direct result of guns in the hands of hot headed idiots.

[SOTIRIOS]

....I thought I had read...'three different types of shells were retrieved'.....

[ratcatcher]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming days and weeks.

Normally I would have been sympathetic to the driver of the Toyota Fortuner Prado (Farut) but in this case I am inclined to believe the story of the driver of the pickup since he turned himself into the Korat P.D..

Drivers of Fortuners and flashy SUVs usually do not like to be overtaken by mere lowlife pickups, especially when driven (Fortuner) by a 23 year old son of a Thai MP.

From the initial evidence and speculation, it seems that Farut fired first. Given the amount of gun play on Thai soap operas, it must have been an affront to Farut's masculinity to be overtaken. How dare he!

It will be worth watching what happens with this story since the 18 year old girl who killed nine people by reckless driving her Honda Civic on the D.M.Tollway only received a two year suspended sentence

Edited September 1, 2012 by ratcatcher

[OzMick]

....I thought I had read...'three different types of shells were retrieved'.....

Yeah, 2 different 9mms was claimed, and 2 guys in the pickup. Could be he's covering for a mate, or maybe confusion caused by him using ammo of different brands.

If has 6 holes in his truck, and his claim of only firing 3 shots, one a bullseye, is true, it is pretty obvious who started the shooting. whether or not self defence is a viable legal argument is another matter.

Explains why the turkeys in the Prado were reluctant to talk to the BIB.

[Kalbo]

'He said the police would be fair to both sides and the final decision would depend on the courts.'

Yeh, right.

Fairness based on how much money and how powerful the connections each party involved has.

Exactly. And this makes me wonder how far the investigation would've progressed had the killer been the MP"s son and lowly construction worker ended up dead.

[drdoom6996]

Now he won't get a suspended sentence for sure.

[vijer]

Don't forget Farut's passengers had about a week to get their stories straight before going to the police station to give their account of the indent. They were probably all allowed to sit in the same room and tell the story with the others listening. In the States they would have been interviewed immediately and interviewed in separate rooms so they could not help fabricate a story. TiT Sorry Mun you are going to be crucified, you should have grabbed a friend and said he was in the truck with you.

[jaltsc]

"Mun explained that he was alone in his pickup truck, driving from a construction site in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district."

Which begs the question: Why does one need a gun when driving to and from a construction site?

[Farangdam]

just like that..... you underfire, you drive, you take a shot and bulleyes what a waste he should represent thailand for olympic.. good 1500 bath gun..

[asiawatcher]

Three shots made six bullet holes... excellent ballistics - but dead men don't talk... Funny how cowboys shooting from pickups have suddenly become the norm - Thai TV making a terrific impact now.

[JanKlaasen]

I must be missing something.

Fom the original news item about the shooting :

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/578845-son-of-nakhon-ratchasima-mp-shot-dead%3B-mp-likely-target-of-killing-police/

ASSASSINATION

An unknown number of men in a pickup truck fired on the sport utility vehicle driven by Farut, 27, killing him instantly.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said he believed the operation was well planned, dismissing a theory that Farut was a victim of road rage.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/578845-son-of-nakhon-ratchasima-mp-shot-dead%3B-mp-likely-target-of-killing-police/page__st__25#entry5600235

Pol Colonel Wachirawit Kritritthisak said there were at least two attackers - the driver of the pickup and a gunman.

Chada failed yesterday to bring in three friends of Farut, who were in the vehicle at the time of shooting. The MP had earlier said the three would meet police for interrogation yesterday.

[spidermike007]

We may be looking at a case of "I am above the law. I am the son of a powerful asshol_e. I am beyond reproach. Nobody can touch me. Watch me, I can do anything. Main, steal, kill, anything I want to do. The police will never touch me. The courts will never rule against me. My father is richer that God, as he has been stealing from the Thai people for decades".

[Bluespunk]

His biggest worry is not having funds to fight a lawsuit? He's more worried about a civil action?

[submaniac]

Just as an aside, I don't think it's a real good idea to give a potential murder suspect a gun so he can do a re enactment and have pictures taken.

Many years ago I was offered two for 500 Baht - one of them was hand made though.

So what'd you finally negotiate the price down to?

[Arkady]

Just sounds fishy. Where can anyone buy a gun for 1500 baht?

Well,if I knew I would have one myself.

And it worked pretty well too - much better than the expensive legal imports of the politician's son and his mates.

[Arkady]

There is something missing from this story. It is not at all clear why the contractor surrendered. There is no suggestion that the police were on to him and the idea that he decided to surrender because he got scared on learning that he had offed a politician's son is not logical. There were no security cameras on the road and, if he was able to get someone to discreetly fill in the bullet holes in his truck and no one had linked him to the shooting, why would he surrender no matter who the victim was? Perhaps he just assumed that the police would track him down because the victim was "important", whereas if he had shot dead any old joe on the road, there would have been no problem. I wonder how many other drivers he had shot up before this.

[Arkady]

Usually there are a lot of RIPs and thoughtful comments addressed to the families of murder victims and those who die mysteriously. I wonder why I am not seeing any in this thread.

[ratcatcher]

Usually there are a lot of RIPs and thoughtful comments addressed to the families of murder victims and those who die mysteriously. I wonder why I am not seeing any in this thread.

Here's my 5 bahts worth in answer to your question Arkady.

From what I have read, it seems that Mun, the driver of the pickup, flashed his headlights at the Prado to advise him that he was going to overtake the Toyota Prado.Offended by this arrogance from a pickup driver, the 23 year old Farut then put on his high beams after Mun passed him.

Not to be outdone, Mun then illuminated his cab mounted rear spotlights, causing Farut to go into killing mode and either he, Farut or one of his passengers then fired a gun at the rear of the pickup. Knowing he was now under attack, it seems that Mun somehow managed to get alongside the Prado and fire off shots one of which wiped out Farut and the Prado. Fortunately the other passengers weren't killed or seriously injured in the crash with the concrete power pole. From the story it seems that Mun's truck took bullets on the right hand side possibly meaning the Prado was to his right.

Anyway, Farut is dead, he tangled with the wrong man. I hope Mun manages to get justice. If I am wrong about my opinion after further investigation, I will apologize on this thread.

R.I.P. ? Racing Is Perilous.?

[siampreggers]

Is it too late to not introduce motor vehicles into Thailand?

The people only seem capable of driving buffalo + cart in a responsible manner.

[siampreggers]

Petty, childish, delicate egoed Thais end up killing each other violently, why am I not surprised.