A police investigator was arrested and charged with murder after the owner of a cannabis shop was shot dead during a drunken argument near Walking Street in the early hours of Sunday.
The shooting occurred about 1.06am behind the victim’s cannabis shop in South Pattaya.
Police later arrested a suspect – Pol Sub Lt Jeerasak Srikattanam, 54, a deputy investigation inspector at Muang Pattaya police station. They said he had been drinking with a group behind the cannabis shop and became involved in a heated argument.
He faces charges of premeditated homicide, firing a gun in public and carrying a firearm in public without valid reason.
CCTV footage showed the suspect arguing with a man in a white shirt. The victim, identified as 41-year-old shop owner Phattharathorn Jirachokchaikul, stepped in to defuse the situation, raising his hands in a wai gesture and attempting to calm the officer. He also tried to wrestle the gun away.
Pol Sub Lt Jeerasak was carrying an 11-mm handgun which he allegedly fired at close range, hitting Phattharathorn twice beneath his left ribcage. He collapsed and later died in hospital despite first-aid efforts by friends and shop staff.
Pol Col Anek Srathongyoo, chief of Muang Pattaya police station, confirmed the suspect was a serving officer and had been taken into custody immediately after charges were laid.
He said the officer was heavily intoxicated at the time and an internal panel had been set up to investigate the case as serious disciplinary misconduct, with the suspect suspended from duty.
Further investigation is under way to establish the full circumstances of the shooting.