Former bomb disposal expert arrested for Hat Yai murder

The suspect had been hiding at a house in Surat Thani’s Phunphin district.

On December 4, Malaysian businessman Lee Ah Han, 54, and his Thai wife Mayuree Thipmanee, 42, were driving through tambon Ban Pru to Hat Yai Airport in a Mercedes Benz when two gunmen in another car opened fire at them, resulting in Lee’s death and Mayuree being injured. 

Police investigation identified the shooter as Ekkapol Inkaew, 47, a former master sergeant with the 3rd Class under the Fourth Army Region who has expertise in guns and explosives. 

Following a police report that Ekkapol was living in a house in tambon Tha Kham with his girlfriend, a team of 20 crime-suppression officers raided the house at 6am yesterday to capture him. 

Later Maj-General Charn Wimonsri, acting commissioner of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), presented Ekkapol to the press along with a 9mm pistol and 25 bullets. 

He said the court had also issued arrest warrants for six suspects in the case. They are Apichon Saelow, 47, who reportedly paid Bt1.4 million for the attack; alleged shooter Ekkapol; alleged scout driver Yutthasak Klamak; alleged getaway driver Chinnapat Piatakthai; and two alleged accomplices, Nongyao Chamninuan and Thanadech Ngiantan. 

CSD superintendent Pol Colonel Sompong Suwanwong said Nongyao had been arrested on December 19, Apichon had surrendered and declared his innocence, and Ekkapol was arrested yesterday. The remaining suspects are still at large. 

He said police were gathering evidence to seek an arrest warrant for another alleged accomplice, Malaysian national Tan Wun Gen, 28. Police investigators believe that the shooting stemmed from a property conflict and an attempt to clear Bt100 million in debt borrowed to purchase land. 

He said Ekkapol confessed to shooting Lee with an M16 rifle in exchange for Bt700,000.