Russian roulette killing is not the first such story within recent times in Thailand. Shocking crime or tragic incident, it can hardly be called an accident. Thai police believe the suspect’s claim is a nonsense, a lie compounding the already evil act of premeditated murder. The death of the beautiful young Thai woman had a lot of common ingredients that make up the regular array of outrageous crimes and acts of destruction all too common in Thailand. Love, hate, jealousy, alcohol, drugs, madness all contribute to the mayhem as well as the proliferation of guns. There are 11 million firearms in Thailand held by Thai nationals. Foreigners are precluded from holding guns.
A Thai man and his beautiful Thai girlfriend are reported to have played a deadly game of Russian roulette last week with two bullets loaded in a 0.38 caliber gun. The young 22 year old died instantly on the third shot. A tragedy inspired by alcohol and madness or an invented excuse by her jealous 30 year old Thai boyfriend currently in custody in Khon Kaen suspected of her murder. He stoutly stands by his story refusing to give formal evidence to police. He admits he engaged in a jealous row with his Thai girlfriend fueled by alcohol and the madness of love. Thai police say they have enough evidence to charge the man with the premeditated murder of the 22 year old young woman. Another 26 year old Thai woman helped him conceal the body. Both suspects fled the scene of the incident.
Thai police in Khon Kaen brought a man and woman before the provincial court last Friday seeking a 12 day detention order after both were arrested earlier in the day for the murder of 22 year old Patya Puangsook at the apartment of one of the accused on Wednesday April 22nd. Both were brought to Khon Kaen from other parts of Thailand. The young woman was shot in the forehead and her body later removed from the apartment by motorbike and dumped it in a nearby stream. The murder is believed to have taken place in the early hours of Monday April 22nd. The man who Thai police suspect killed Ms Puangsook is her 30 year old boyfriend. However, he has insisted to investigating Thai police that the death of his girlfriend occurred as the result of a crazed game of Russian roulette and was therefore not murder but instead a tragic accident.
26 year Thai woman helped man move and dump his girlfriends body at a local stream
Thai police have named the two accused as 30 year old Thongchai Klangmuang known by his nickname ‘Tam’ and 26 year old Thai woman, Thampassorn Phuttharaksa. It is believed that the 26 year old woman helped Tam or Mr Klangmaunag remove the body from his apartment using a motorcycle after the shocking death. The body of the 22 year old Thai who was also known as ‘Nong Oey’ was found in the Huani Phram stream located in the the centre of the city of Khon Kaen, two days later on Wednesday last, April 24th. The young woman’s body, with two tattoos on her arms, was in a state of decomposition and was found to have a bullet wound to the head as well damage to the skull area. Police also found that the body was badly bruised in a number of areas. Nong Oey was originally from the northern area of Nam Phong in Khon Kaen province, an agricultural area. Her home village was Ban Kud Kwang.
Thai police have established that the couple had a jealous row on the night the woman died
Thai police are very skeptical about the bizarre defense being put forward by the 30 year suspected killer and boyfriend of the murdered woman. After interrogating the two suspects, they have established that Thongchai Klangmuang had argued with his girlfriend during a night out on Sunday last, April 21st. They couple had visited a local restaurant. It is understood that Thangchai had become jealous of his young girlfriend who was particularly attractive and beautiful. She had been engaging with other men in the hostelry including making conversation and taking selfies. A row had developed.
Man claims he played a real game of Russian roulette with his girlfriend with two bullets loaded in the revolver, an act of madness
The Thai man has accepted that he rowed with his girlfriend. He told Thai police that the couple had an argument as he was jealous. The pair had been drinking alcohol. He claims that, at some point, they had decided to play a dangerous game of Russian roulette. He has insisted to investigating police that he never pointed the gun, a .38 revolver, at his girlfriend’s head. He says that two bullets were put into the gun and a real game of Russian roulette ensued. An act of madness.
Two shots came up blank for the Thai man and girlfriend, the third brought instant death
According to the Thai man’s account, the first shot was taken by his girlfriend and it was a blank. Next, he put the gun to his own head and fired the second shot which also a drew a blank. However, it was third time unlucky for the beautiful Nong Oey. She was killed in an instant as the bullet lodged in her head and skull. The Thai man is adamant about his story and has refused to give police sworn testimony or participate in a crime reenactment which is usual in Thailand as a criminal investigation procedure. The 30 year old has insisted that he will only give formal evidence on the matter at a full trial before a Thai court.
Police in Khon Kaen say they have enough evidence for a charge of premeditated murder
Police are believed to be considering a charge of premeditated murder against the Thai man who remains in custody. Police are also opposing bail for the two suspects. Police Colonel Pakpoom Pisamai from Khon Kaen Police station is leading the investigation. It is understood that police believe that the Thai man murdered his Thai girlfriend and that he was assisted by 26 year old, Thampassorn Phuttharaksa. This young Thai woman has claimed innocence of any wrongdoing and also denies any charge of murder. Ms Phuttharaksa, along with her co suspect, have explained to Thai police that they only removed the body out of fear of being implicated in her death. Ms Phuttharaksa has said she will defend her position in court while Thongchai Klangmuang claims that there were two witnesses to what happened in his apartment when Nong Oey tragically died.
Thai man facing charges for concealing the body of his pretty Thai girlfriend before he fled
‘Mr Thongchai kept insisting that he did not point a gun at Patya’s head and shoot, but he was merely played a game of Russian roulette with her,’ Colonel Pisamai told the media. ‘He also refused to participate in a crime reenactment.’ The senior police officer however, believes that there is already enough evidence to charge Mr Klangmuang, the 30 year old boyfriend, with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend. The Thai man is also facing charges in connection with the moving and concealment of the body of 22 year old Nong Oey, his now deceased love partner.
Body removed from apartment by motorcycle, suspects identified by police from CCTV
Thai police identified the pair from CCTV footage of the apartment. They retrieved video footage showing Thangchai and the 26 year old Thampassorn Phuttharaksa removing the body on a motorbike which they took to the stream in the city and dumped.
Both suspects arrested within days of woman’s body being found on different Thai provinces
On Friday last, Thai police arrested both suspects. Ms Phuttharaksa was located at a resort in Surin province while Thongchai Klangmuang was found at his mother’s home in the eastern Thai province of Trat bordering Cambodia. The mother of the suspect, 50 year old Buahong Kaewnet, provided him with her full support before arresting police took her son back to Khon Kaen for questioning and to be held in custody as ordered by the court in connection with the crime and police investigations. ‘No need to talk now, we’ll talk tomorrow son,’ she said to him as he was taken away.
26 year old female suspect takes part on crime reenactment last Saturday, also facing drugs charges
On Saturday, Thai police conducted a crime reenactment of what happened in the early hours of April 22nd last in Khon Kaen. Thongchai Klangmuang did not take part but the 26 year old suspect, Ms Phuttharaksa, played her part. The 26 year Thai woman has also been charged by Thai police with being in control of a motorbike while taking illegal drugs. She is reported to be not contesting this charge. Both suspects were interrogated overnight from Friday when they were arrested until the crime reenactment took place on Saturday.
Another Russian roulette killing involving a Thai couple from 2017 was a shocking tragedy
Amazingly, it is not the first such story in Thailand in recent times. In 2017, a Thai husband killed his wife of three years after they brought home what they thought was an unloaded gun after a visit to his mother’s home. The man and his wife, who lived in Ayutthaya province, decided to play the dangerous game for fun as they went to bed.
Ayutthaya incident saw husband and wife bed time game for fun turn to full horror
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of May 18th 2017. The couple were also reported to be inebriated after consuming alcohol. 27 year old Thai woman Nopparat Phrasena worked in a local hospital. The horrific incident occurred in the couple’s bedroom. When her husband, 29 year old Pongrat Kitsunthorn, called the Thai police and emergency services to the scene, he was in an appalling state of distress. The Thai man was under the mistaken belief that he had already removed all the gun’s bullets from the .22 caliber weapon earlier at his mother’s home. The couple had playfully believed that they were mimicking the dangerous Russian roulette game with a real but unarmed gun in their bedroom when the unthinkable happened. His wife put the gun to her head and stunningly, it went off killing her instantly.
The young married man scrambled in vain to revive her but she was already dead. Police and emergency services when they arrived to the couple’s home found Mr Kitsunthorn crying with his shirt covered in his wife’s blood.
Crimes of passion and guns, a deadly combination
Thailand has a growing problem of murders and deaths which come about through passion and jealousy. Often the crimes are exacerbated by alcohol or drugs. In the story of the Ayutthaya Thai husband and his wife, it highlights a love of danger and playfulness. Many Thai people seem to have a lack of caution about firearms. Indeed, both stories highlight the prevalence of guns in the kingdom for most part, held legally by citizens in Thailand.
Thailand’s has a love affair with guns which often turns sour with over 5,000 deaths per year
It is is estimated that there are over 11 million guns in Thailand with 6 to 7 million weapons held legally by approximately one in ten Thai citizens. The huge black market in Thailand as well criminal networks has spawned a large number of illegal weapons and the ability to procure them quite easily. However, it is not difficult for a Thai national to get a permit for a gun. Thai law has allowed Thai nationals to hold guns since 1947. Significantly, a change to the law in Thailand in 2017 explicitly prohibiting foreigners from owning guns.
Thailand has one of the worst records in the world when it comes to gun deaths which by 2017 figures, was 7.48 per 100,000 people. That’s over 5,200 deaths a year from gun related violence or incidents.
On Valentines Day this year, a Thai wife killed her successful husband in which she says was an accident with a concealed gun hidden in clothes after a late night quarrel went wrong in their bedroom in the early hours of the morning – read the story below.
