While police are looking for two suspects in the murder of former politician and Rama 9 Cafe tycoon Somyot Suthangkul, they’re also closer to identifying a motive.
Warrants for the two unknown men were issued on the basis of witness descriptions. They were described as “dark-skinned males in their 30s”. The suspected gunman wore a cap, while his accomplice on a motorcycle was wearing a full-face helmet.
Police have also questioned associates of Somyot and his wife Ratsami Suthangkul who had allegedly borrowed millions from the couple.
Somyot, 62, was shot dead in the parking lot of Heng Shark Fin restaurant on Pattanakarn Road in the capital’s Suan Luang district Monday night after he finished a meal with Ratsami and was returning to his car at around 9pm.
Ratsami told police yesterday that only one person knew of their plan to dine at the restaurant: Supanida Norarat. Supanida, 48, had called her that afternoon to borrow THB200,000, but Ratsami turned her down, she said, claiming she didn’t have the money.
Under questioning by police, Supanida admitted she and ex-husband Somchai Nittaya had received millions of baht from Somyot to settle a matter with clients of Somyot’s law firm, then spent the cash on themselves. According to Bangkok Post, the couple also scammed Somyot out of several million baht in a card game.
Ratsami said that several days prior to his murder, Somyot had asked a soldier to demand Somchai return the money.
Police have only gone so far as to suggest Somyot’s murder was related to the debt, Bangkok Post reported.
Photo: FM91 BKK
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Entrepreneur and politician Somyot Suthangkul gunned down
