THREE PHUKET policemen were severely injured while a drug trafficking suspect was shot dead in a gunfight at his father’s house Nakhon Si Thammarat province after they surrounded it to arrest him with the father helping his son by deeply slashing the throat of one of the policemen, Khaosod newspaper reported today (August 31, 2020).
The shootout occurred at a Thai-style house in a mangosteen orchard at Lan Saka district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province after Pol.Maj. Pramul Khongchu, from Kamala station in Phuket, moved in with his team at 8 a.m. to arrest Mr. Udom Rattanamanee, 46, with a warrant issued by Phuket court.
Upon arriving at the house, where the suspect lived with his pregnant wife Areeya, and his parents, they met his father, Pricha, and told him to ask his son to come out as they had a warrant for his arrest.
However after Pricha went into the house, Udom opened fire at the policemen with an M16 rifle and an 11mm pistol.
In the gunbattle that ensued, three policemen were injured, Pol.Maj. Pramul was shot in the head and sent for treatment at Songkhla University; Mr. Thanomsak Wisuttisap, a police volunteer, was shot in the left leg; and Pol.Sen.Sgt.Maj. Wattana Kanjana was slashed at the throat with a machete by Pricha, with the wound being 10 centimetres long and deep. However all three are now out of danger.
When Lan Saka district policemen moved in, they saw the suspect, Udom, lying dead in the house with 20 M16 shells plus a few more from the 11mm pistol scattered around and also found a quantity of crystal methamphetamine, or Ice.
They arrested Pricha for obstructing police work and injuring a policeman.
Meanwhile Maj. Gen. Nuntadech Yodnuan, deputy commander of the Provincial Police Region 8, said the deceased suspect and his wife were accused of supporting drug trafficking and a warrant for their arrest had been issued in Phuket.
“The deceased suspect and his wife are major drug dealers in Phuket. They have been imprisoned and their assets seized. They just came out of jail a month ago and moved to stay at Lan Saka district but they traveled back and forth between Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phuket regularly,” Maj. Gen. Nuntadech said.
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Top: The house surrounded by the mangosteen orchard where the shootout occurred this morning. Photos: Khaosod
