Lopburi gold shop killer loses final appeal against execution

On Wednesday, the court rejected defendant Prasittichai Khaokaew's plea, saying the victims had been killed in cold blood and the killings were an inhumane act.

The shackled defendant was taken to the Criminal Court to hear the ruling at 10am on Wednesday.

Prasittichai, a former principal of a primary school in Singburi, has been slapped with several charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery and carrying a gun in a public place.

He has also faced 10 co-plaintiffs in court, including owners of Aurora Design Co Ltd, victims and families of those killed.

On January 9, 2020, a masked Prasittichai walked into the Aurora Gold Shop in Lopburi’s Robinson shopping mall with a pistol and shot the guard. He then jumped on the glass showcase and opened fire at the female staff, killing one and severely injuring another.

He then grabbed the jewellery and walked out, but while strolling out of the mall, he fired at another shop, killing a toddler who was leaving the shop with his mother.

People have wondered why Prasittichai did not just threaten the shop staff with a gun and take the jewellery, instead of shooting at people.

On August 27, 2021, the Criminal Court found him guilty of violating several articles of the Criminal Code, including Articles 289 (6), 60, 80, 339, 340, 371 and 376. He was also found guilty of violating the gun control law.

The court also hit him with a death sentence. Though Prasittichai did not appeal against the guilty verdict, he asked for the death penalty to be commuted.

The Supreme Court, however, upheld the death sentence because it said the shooting had taken place inside a shopping mall, which is a public place full of shoppers. The court also said Prasittichai had killed three innocent people and severely injured another in an action that was blatant, cruel, dangerous and inhumane.

The verdict pointed out that Prasittichai was a school principal at the time, so he should have had a good conscience and served as a good example instead of committing blatant crimes. Hence, there was no reason to commute the sentence, the court said.

Apart from capital punishment, Prasittichai was also ordered to pay the 10 co-defendants compensations ranging from 99,000 baht to 2.25 million baht.

Before his case was taken to the highest court, the Appeals Court had on July 20 last year rejected his appeal saying Prasittichai showed no remorse and did not surrender to police. He was only caught after police conducted an investigation that led to his arrest.

The Appeals Court also noted that the defendant had only pleaded guilty because of the strong evidence against him, hence there was no reason to commute the death sentence.

Thailand has upheld capital punishment and since 1935, it has executed 326 people, 319 by shooting (the latest on December 11, 2002) and seven by lethal injection (latest on June 18, 2018).

Thai law permits capital punishment for 35 crimes, including treason, murder and drug trafficking.