PHUKET: Police confirmed today (July 6) that they have arrested five men that they claim were responsible for an incident yesterday that saw gang members fire more than 15 shots from firearms on a small, quiet street in Kathu.
Chief of Kathu Police Station, Pol. Rungrit Ratanaphakdi. Photo: Phuket Info Center
The incident happened at Soi Sua Lueang, between Red Mountain Golf Course and the Phuket Mining Museum, in the early hours of yesterday morning. Initial police investigations suggested an altercation between two gangs of youths which led to 15 shots being fired off randomly into the air. Nobody was reported injured in the incident.
Around 10am this morning the chief of Kathu Police Station, Pol. Rungrit Ratanaphakdi, confirmed that five men had been apprehended and charged in relation to what he described as an “outrageous” crime that completely neglected the law and displayed no regard to the safety of local residents.
Following investigations by police yesterday using CCTV footage, officers were able to determine who the perpetrators were before seeking and receiving appropriate arrest warrants from Phuket Provincial Court. The arrests were then made successfully last night with three of the gang under the age of 18, Col. Kittipong confirmed.
The chief offender was a 30-year-old man called Nopporn, or Kor Sankla. Interestingly, police confirmed this to be the same offender that used a firearm to threaten a lottery ticket vendor in front of the Talad Kaset fresh market on Ongsimphai Rd in Phuket Town last Thursday (June 29). Police had been trying to track down the offender in that incident ever since.
The other members of the group arrested were: 29-year-old Mr Pakorn, or Han Noinit; 17-year-old “Mr Ek” (real name withheld); “Mr Chai” (real name withheld), also 17; and 16-year-old “Mr Sun” (real name withheld).
Police also successfully seized several weapons at the address where the arrests were made (an address they did not specify in reports). These included a Glock 19 model semi-automatic pistol along with two magazines of ammunition, which police said was the weapon Mr Naporn had used in last week’s incident with the lottery vendor.
Additionally, a Undercover branded .38 pistol with .38 size ammunition was retrieved, as was 37 rounds of Ruger brand 9mm ammunition. Police confirmed both types of ammunition seized matched the 15 casings retrieved from the scene in Kathu yesterday.
Furthermore, several motorbikes were found at the scene of the arrests that matched those identified on CCTV at yesterday’s incident in Kathu. These included: a red Honda MSX motorcycle, registration number 1 Por Kor 2622; a blue Honda Wave 150, registration number 1 Kor Na 9715; a Yamaha Meo Motorcycle, registration number Kor Kor Kor 449.
Police confirmed their investigations yesterday revealed that a quarrel had taken place between two groups of youths in the Soi Sua Lueang area in the early hours following two cars supposedly colliding with one another. One of the groups, comprising the three juveniles police later identified as “Mr Ek”, “Mr Chai” and “Mr Sun”, then called the two elder men, Mr Naporn and Mr Pakorn, and agreed to meet them at a nearby gas station.
The five men then returned to the scene of the altercation on Soi Sua Lueang only to find the other group had disappeared. Perhaps in an effort to draw their attention or to threaten them, Mr Naporn and Mr Pakorn then each fired off a series of shots from the two firearms into the sky before fleeing the scene.
All five men apprehended will be charged with the illegal possession of firearms without permission and jointly carrying firearms in a public space. Mr Naporn and Mr Pakorn will face further charges of using firearms in a public space with any reasonable cause.
