Woranat Phuengphai and Pakorn
Ruengruen have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the shooting
death of Nathee Kerthong.
Boonlua Chatree
A 23-year-old man arrested for the shooting death of a
supposed CD vendor in South Pattaya told police he shot the victim because
he was, in fact, a neighborhood bully who regularly robbed and assaulted
workers in the area.
Woranat Phuengphai, 23, was apprehended Aug. 4 two days
after Nathee Kerthong, 34, was found shot fatally in the chest inside the
Soi VC’s fence Aug. 2. Groups of witnesses said he’d been attacked by two or
three youths, then shot once after jumping the hotel’s fence. Police seized
a hand-made shotgun pistol and two shells.
The suspect’s friend, Pakorn Ruengruen, 20, was also
arrested at the time on an unrelated gun charge, with police confiscating
another shotgun pistol.
At the time, Nathee’s father, Pranom Kerdthong, 72, said
his son had gone out to buy pirated CDs to sell at a local market and didn’t
know why someone would shoot him. Police had speculated the attack might
have been related to a personal dispute or drugs.
According to Woramat, however, Nathee took money and
drugs off of young men working in the area’s gay bars and assaulted them
when they refused to pay. Before the shooting, Woramat told police Nathee
had again robbed him of 10,000 baht.
The two got into a fight. Wormat said Nathee stabbed him
with a sharp stick and he shot Nathee in the chest at close range in
retaliation, police reported.
Wormat was charged with murder and both men were charged
with illegal weapons possession.
