Five arrested over attack on Malaysian bodyguard
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Five men, including three Malaysians, were arrested yesterday for allegedly attacking the bodyguard of a personality from Kedah at a luxury resort in Phuket on Tuesday.
The first arrest was made at a house in Sikao district in Trang province. Prakorn Leesopa, 32, from Phatthalung, was taken into custody after a manhunt was launched aftr an attack on Mohammad Sobri Bin Said, 53.
Said was one of the bodyguards accompanying the chairman of the Kedah Council of Regency, Annuar Sultan Badlishah, during his stay in Phuket at the Millennium Resort Patong hotel.
In his statement to the police, Prakorn claimed that his older brother Sakorn Srisopha, 34, called him on Tuesday night to be driven to Patong.
He was to be given Bt5,000 for the drive.
“Sakorn and three Malaysian men arrived at my place in a pickup truck and when we arrived at the hotel in Patong, the three Malaysians got a room-access key card from the reception desk before heading upstairs,” he said.
Upon entering the room, the men grabbed Said, tied him to a chair and began hitting him, Prakorn said. “Then I heard them looking for something in the room and asking about a passport and mobile phone.
“Then someone else drove the car back to my place. The long-haired Malaysian man gave me Bt5,000 and then they left,” he claimed, protesting his innocence.
“I have never seen these three men before and if I knew they were going to attack a VIP, I would not have taken any part in it.”
Patong police officer Pol Lieutenant Thawatchai Srimai said the bodyguard had told police that he had received a tip-off about the attack and switched rooms with Annuar.
Prakorn and the other four have been charged with gang robbery.
“Items worth a total of Bt42,000 were stolen,” Thawatchai said. “We have seized Bt14,640 and 640 ringgit in cash, a Malaysian ID card, an ATM card and an iPhone 5.”
The other four were arrested while trying to get through the Sadao checkpoint.
A source told the Phuket Gazette that the Malaysian men were part of Annuar’s entourage and the incident was an “internal affair that will be dealt with when they return to Malaysia”.
Annuar and his party checked out of the hotel yesterday.
