2nd protester shot dead
Another rubber grower was shot dead early yesterday while returning home from the protest site in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Chu-uat district.
The victim, 34-year-old Wanna Wongprayoon, had reportedly argued with a man at the protest site, say police, who allege that the motive for the killing was a personal conflict. Wanna is the second protester to have been killed, following a case on Sunday which police have also blamed on a personal quarrel.
Cha-uat superintendent Pol Colonel Prasit Chuphao said Wanna was found dead with a shotgun wounds in Tambon Wang Ang at 2am. It was reported that Wanna had earlier been given a lift in a pick-up truck to where he had parked his motorbike. Police say they have a witness who saw a drunk looking for Wanna at his home and then heard gunshots.
In related news, the Justice Ministry’s Rights and Liberties Protection Department chief, Police Colonel Narat Sawettanant, yesterday visited Wanna’s family as well as the family of fellow protester Sirichai Boonnuwong, 29, who was shot dead on Sunday, and said the two families were entitled to Bt100,000 in assistance money.
