A fight, allegedly over a waitress, broke out in Southern Thailand in the wee hours of this morning, leaving a man dead and five others injured.
The latest update revealed that 39-year-old shooter Pairin Nadkliang, a Hat Yai native, had turned himself and his 9mm pistol into the Hat Yai Police station at around 7am this morning.
Police received a report regarding the shooting at Plaza market in Songkhla province’s Hat Yai District at around 3am today.
The quarrel started when the incident’s sole fatality, identified as 38-year-old Tong Chaetae flirted with a restaurant waitress, reported Thairath. Some witnesses reportedly claimed he was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
A friend of the waitress told the local media that Tong, having developed a liking for her, became a regular at the restaurant and even left her a hefty THB500 (about US$16) tip yesterday.
However, when the restaurant was closing down and the waitress’ boyfriend came to pick her up, Tong got upset and, along with some friends, followed the couple to a convenience store where he started a fight.
Unable to put up a fight, the boyfriend’s friends fled to Plaza market where Tong and his crew followed them to in order to continue fighting.
Meanwhile, Pairin’s mother — who is reportedly a vendor in the same market — witnessed the fight and called Pairin to come help because Tong had just stabbed Pairin’s uncle and friend, who had tried to break up the fight.
Since his mother had mentioned that the gang had a knife, Pairin said he decided to bring his pistol to the market.
Pairin claims that Tong and friends were drunkenly trying to stab him. When they did not stop after he fired a warning shot into the sky, Pairin decided to fire his pistol 5-6 times in “self defense,” reported Matichon.
While the shots killed Tong, five more people were reportedly also injured.
A 16-year-old friend of the victim was shot in his arm and toe, a pedestrian was shot in the leg, a female market vendor was shot in the knee and two men (Pairin’s uncle and friend) who tried to break up in the fight got stabbed in the neck and in the hand.
Fortunately, their conditions have reportedly all stabilized.
Pairin now faces three charges of murder with intent, possessing a firearm and carrying a weapon into a public place without permission.
He is now being held at Hat Yai Police Station while awaiting trial, according to Ejan.
