Chirawat Seuasing (bottom)
shows police where the gun was hidden.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
A 22-year-old Nong Plalai man was arrested for allegedly firing 30 shots
into Pattaya Remand Prison, wounding one inmate.
Chirawat Seuasing was arrested Aug. 29, three days after he allegedly
picked up an assault rifle and bullets left for him in Sriracha to fire
shots into the men’s cellblocks to scare an inmate who owed a fellow
inmate money for drugs. Police said Chirawat confessed to being paid
10,000 baht by the drug-dealing inmate - identified only as “Dave” - to
do the shooting.
One unidentified prisoner was injured in the shooting, not from bullets
but by concrete hit by bullets that fell on him. Officials did not say
if the injured prisoner was the intended victim.
A search of Chirawat’s home near the prison uncovered the SK rifle, 20
bullets and the Honda Wave motorbike he allegedly was driving at the
time of the shooting. The suspect confessed, police said, to picking up
140 bullets left for him by the inmate’s friends.
The shooting rattled prison and police officials, who responded to the
incident by shrouding as much of the Nong Plalai facility in secrecy as
much as possible and deploying a special-tactics squad to patrol the
grounds. Guards and prison directors also spun conspiracy tales about
the shooting possibly being connected to a disgraced guard whose house
was shot at and bombed during recent weeks. That guard, suspected of
bribery and gambling, has applied for a transfer to Bangkok.
