Double eviction threat drove Thai businessman to suicide: family

[webfact]

WOENG NAKHON KHASEM
Double eviction threat drove man to suicide: family
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- A BUSINESSMAN left all his valuables behind, as he headed to a riverside temple on Monday apparently on a suicide journey. He carried only one thing - a plastic business card showing his shop was located in Bangkok's Woeng Nakhon Khasem area.

The shop, now widely known as Yong Seng Musical, has operated in the old-community zone for more than a century. This original shop, however, will have to close down permanently this year as its proprietors are evicted.

"I believe by carrying his business card, my dad wanted to speak up for all Woeng Nakhon Khasem residents," Pollakorn said after his father Chatchawal Asavasopon went missing.

Woeng Nakhon Khasem is one of the oldest retail musical instrument centres in Bangkok. All retailers there are tenants and are required to vacate the zone after its landlord decided to sell the plot to a developer.

TCC Land is known to have purchased the 14-rai (2.25-hectare) plot in Woeng Nakhon Khasem. Pollakorn believed his father might have been under huge stress because imminent evictions would have affected both branches of Yong Seng Musical.

"When we learned that the original shop would have to close, my dad decided to open a new outlet in an area known as Wat Teuk a few years ago. My family spent Bt10 million on the new shop only to find out later that we will be evicted from there by 2017," he said.

According to Pak Klong San Police Station investigator Pol Lt-Colonel Prapas Khiaoprapassorn, surveillance-camera recordings show Chatchawal paying respect to a riverside shrine at about 3pm on Monday before softly submerging himself in the Chao Phraya.

Pollakorn said his father did not tell anyone what he planned to do.

"I began to suspect something wrong must have happened only after finding that my dad had put his personal documents, mobile phone, and ornaments in his locked drawers," he said. The family alerted police. Yesterday, Chatchawal's body was retrieved from the Chao Phraya River near Wat Rakang.

His family does not suspect any foul play in his death.


-- The Nation 2014-05-15

[Stradavarius37]

He was a good man, and was well known by many at my institution. He supported numerous music students and educational programs and it is a truly sad situation and outcome for all involved - Requiescat in pace

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[geriatrickid]

Isn't TCC Lands owned/controlled by TCC Assets?

TCC Assets is owned by the wealthiest man in Thailand, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

I believe his family wields great power and influence and it is unwise to be on the wrong side of the family's multinational conglomerate.

[ggt]

Sad ending to a productive citizen...RIP

[Local Drunk]

Isn't TCC Lands owned/controlled by TCC Assets?

TCC Assets is owned by the wealthiest man in Thailand, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

I believe his family wields great power and influence and it is unwise to be on the wrong side of the family's multinational conglomerate.

I agree with you for once. I even liked your post. I would have liked it even more if you'd had a bit of a go at TCC.

[MMarlow]

Isn't TCC Lands owned/controlled by TCC Assets?

TCC Assets is owned by the wealthiest man in Thailand, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

I believe his family wields great power and influence and it is unwise to be on the wrong side of the family's multinational conglomerate.

I agree with you for once. I even liked your post. I would have liked it even more if you'd had a bit of a go at TCC.

Why should he have a go at TCC?. Because it's owned by a wealthy man? Are you suggesting that TCC is responsible for the tenant's death because it bought property offered for sale by it's owner? Maybe your unjustified proposed attack should be directed at the person who sold the land even though all the tenants would have been well aware that at some stage, by definition, their tenure of that property would end and possession of the property would revert to the actual owner.

Here's a great business idea - stop all trading, of whatever nature, in case there is someone, somewhere, that doesn't agree with the concept of commerce.

Edited May 15, 2014 by MMarlow

[neverdie]

I'm saddened to read such a story.

For many of us people getting old isn't easy. Everything starts to change, the pace of change becomes rapid and it's easy to get overwhelmed by situations. It's not always possible to see the forest for the trees.

I liken life these days to a trip down the highway, for the first few hundred miles your blasting along In your Ferrari,skilfully sliding round every corner, challenging the laws of physics at virtually every blip in the road. Towards the end of the journey, your In an old Bedford truck, there's holes in the floor, doors have fallen off, the wireless doesn't work, she's stuck in second gear, the engine surges and farts every time you move the throttle, the steering has half a turn of free play and the brakes only seem to make noise and have not much effect on anything. The youngsters cut you at every turn, they blast past with their horns blaring, there boom boxes shaking your glass and occasionally wave at you, but for some reason they only wave with one finger.

It's a pity he didn't call out, but it doesn't surprise me he didn't.

RIP.