3 slain as Songkran turns ugly
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Youth, 16, shot by rival gang on Sathorn
Three vicious murders marred Songkran celebrations in separate incidents around the country yesterday.
In one, a 58-year-old man in Chumphon was clubbed to death by a drunken reveller for objecting to being drenched with water.
In another case in Bangkok, an underage member of an illegal motorcycle gang was shot dead and four others wounded when a rival gang opened fire after a Silom Road water fight turned deadly.
And in Satun, a man knifed a drunken reveller to death for allegedly molesting his sister during a water fight.
Wissanu Wilaikaew, 16, took a bullet to his left chest and four fellow gang members were shot and injured in a salvo fired by members of a rival gang, who approached them on 15 motorcycles on Sathorn Road, near Silom, at around 10pm. Survivors said the groups had brawled earlier in the day during the festivities on Silom, but they had not expected a reprisal so long afterward.
The shooter, described as chubby, was among 15 racers who followed the victims’ group from Silom.
In Chumphon, 58-year-old Piak Thongsakul was found dead, with Bt1,300 apparently stolen. Quoting witnesses, police said Piak was on his way to a funeral when he was drenched with water by a man, estimated to be around 25 years of age, who had been throwing water at passers-by.
Piak was seen complaining to the suspect and later making his way by motorcycle to the funeral. The suspect was seen following Piak and reportedly struck him in the face and head repeatedly near a T-junction in Lang Suan district. Piak was described as a poor painter well liked by his neighbours.
In Satun, Prawit Langmuang, 30, was stabbed in his left chest after suspect Ekkaphol Mekmok, 20, scolded him for touching his adult sister, who was celebrating and engaged in a water fight across the street. The men argued before Ekkaphol stabbed Prawit, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Meanwhile, a male transvestite was fined Bt500 yesterday for dancing topless at a party in Ayutthaya, after relatives delivered him to police. Sarawuth Sapharb, 20, was roundly criticised after video clips of him dancing were posted online.
Sarawuth begged for forgiveness from the public and called on Thai youths not to do as he had. He said he was drunk at the time, and succumbed to encouragement by cheering friends who goaded him into stripping off his T-shirt and dancing provocatively.
