POLICE chasing a suspect in the road rage murder on the expressway near Prachachuen toll booth before dawn yesterday (Dec. 23) arrested him at a homestay on Koh Chang, Trat province, this evening just as he was preparing to cross the border to Cambodia by boat, PPTVHD36 and Amarin TV said.
Mr. Songkran Phanphu, or Kan, 37, was tracked down after police questioned his accomplice who was helping him flee to Cambodia who revealed the homestay where they had booked two rooms, one for the suspect and one for himself.
An arrest warrant had been issued for him on charges of “intentional homicide and attempted homicide, possessing firearms and ammunition and carrying them in a city, village, or public place without a permit” after Mr. Anuwat Yatinaiyom, 34, was shot dead at 4.50 a.m.
He is currently being questioned with police not ruling out any other motive for the killing even though eyewitnesses said it was a road rage dispute that led to the victim being shot dead because there is a prior arrest warrant for attempted murder issued in 2024 against him.
The suspect had abandoned a white Toyota Vellfire MPV used in the shooting at a hotel in Nakhon Pathom before travelling in several taxis, then finally catching a private cab to take him to Rayong for a fixed fare of 2,500 baht without negotiation.
This made the cabbie, Mr. Sudjai Samranadee, suspicious and furthermore Songkran also told him that he had no money, not even for the toll, but offered to either pay by QR code or stop at a convenience store to withdraw money from an ATM.
Fearing he would not be paid, the cabbie secretly took a photo of him while he was asleep.
Upon reaching Rayong, Songkran changed his mind and asked to be dropped off at another spot and once there his accomplice drove up in a sedan and paid the fare in cash and took him to his wife, Ms. Kanokrat’s house.
Afterwards they rented a white SUV and drove off with his wife and two sons to Trat province.
CAPTION:
Road rage suspect Mr. Songkran Panphu being arrested at Koh Chang, above, and an earlier image of him, inserted. Both photos – PPTVHD36
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