The son of a high-ranking retired army official used his father’s gun to murder his former girlfriend before killing himself, police said today.
A day after Supitcha “Gigi” Preedacharoen, 20, was found dead at a condo in Bangkok’s Asok area along with the body of Phumiphat “Nat” Chaiwanichaya, National Police Chief General Damrongsak Kittipraphat said today that the 19-year-old air force cadet used his father’s handgun.
Scant details were originally reported about the cadet’s family ties. After their deaths were announced yesterday, online amateur sleuths dug up disturbing details indicating that they had been involved in a relationship in which Gigi said Nat, who went by the name Ikkyu, was physically abusive.
Ikkyu was the son of former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Somchai Chaiwanichaya. Photos circulating online from Ikkyu’s social media accounts show him cosplaying in military gear, wielding a variety of firearms in violation of gun laws dictating that no one under 21 can own such a weapon.
The authorities were alerted to the bodies at around 2pm on Wednesday. When officers arrived, they found the two pair with gunshot wounds to their heads. Two shell casings were recovered.
Makkasan police said the incident occurred due to relationship problems between the deceased.
“Ghie has passed away. More details will be coming forward,” read an announcement on fan page at around 4pm signed by Gigi’s manager. “Thank you to everyone who has always followed her. She has always been loved by everyone.”
The page, which had more than 211,000 followers, later published chat logs in which Gigi detailed physical abuse by Ikkyu, including photos of bruises on her face and body. Gigi said in the messages that she feared for her life.
In another message, she said Ikkyu would hit her in the face up to eight times and kick her in the chest and back.
The net idol’s father told Makkasan police last night that his daughter had ended a relationship with Ikkyu, and had recently told her family that she moved into a THB20,000 per month Asok condo to escape him.
Her father said he last talked to Gigi on Monday to make an appointment to help pay her rent.
According to information dug up online, Ikkyu was a spoiled princeling who walked around wearing in clothing and accessories worth nearly THB500,000 (US$15,000). According to his social media posts, an interest in sports and fashion was replaced by an obsession with guns in mid-2019. By late 2020, he almost exclusively posted images of weaponry, including selfies in tactical gear and one very incel-ish collage of an adult asking a boy surrounded by guns “Why can’t you like music or girls or something?” in November 2021.
Police said they were reviewing CCTV footage at the condominium, as well as examining the evidence found at the scene. Responding to public skepticism regarding justice in cases involving powerful figures, investigators insisted today they were under no pressure in investigating the case and would, as always, “follow proper police procedure.”
It’s the latest in a series of high-profile, violent crimes to be carried out by those belonging to or associated with state security forces. On March 15, Lt. Col. Kittikarn Sangboon, 51, died of gunshot wounds at a hospital that he had sustained during a long running gunbattle with other police officers. In 2020, a soldier killed 29 people in Korat. Thailand’s most ghastly mass murder came this past October, when a disgraced cop entered a day care center and killed at least 36 people, including 24 young children and a pregnant teacher.
Ikkyu’s spendy clothes detailed in a 2018 video, when he would have been around 14.
