Police in central Chainat province this morning arrested a Thai man who allegedly bashed his brother to death after the pair got drunk on rice whiskey and had what turned out to be one of duo’s last meal: stir-fired monitor lizard.
Police arrived at the scene at 4am to find Sukhon Nilthap, 50, lying dead with severe wounds to his head. His younger brother Pratuan, 39, was discovered hiding not far from the house and promptly arrested.
The brothers and a friend, Jongrak Yoddamneon, 42, had been drinking lao khao –– the cheap rice whiskey popular among Thai men — and cooked up a monitor lizard they’d caught to go with the liquor, police told Matichon.
As the night went along, the drunken brothers reportedly got into an argument, which then escalated into a fist fight, Jongrak told police. They used lao khao bottles as weapons and chased each other around the house. At one point, Pratuan allegedly bashed his brother to death with a shovel.
Shattered liquor bottles were found at the scene.
So far, Pratuan has denied murdering his brother and was still too intoxicated to be questioned as of this morning. However, relatives said the two brothers routinely got into arguments when imbibing, according to Sanook.
Police are waiting for the autopsy and plan to interrogate Pratuan and Jongrak again soon.
