Pattaya —
A Thai man, reported to be a former football referee in a well-known Thai League, horrifically murdered a woman in Pattaya by stabbing her body and slitting her throat. The man subsequently took his own life at the scene of the shocking murder.
A video news report from our team can be seen here but sensitive viewers should utilise discretion.
The suspect was brandishing a long knife when the police officers arrived at the incident scene, a three-storey lodge, cafe, and shophouse located on Jomtien Beach Road in Chonburi’s Banglamung district, on Saturday, July 22nd, at 11:15 AM, Pol. Capt. Chonlawit Athiphansi revealed to The Pattaya News.
The suspect, later identified as 57-year-old Mr. Sunthorn Porjai, a fitness trainer and a former referee of the Thai League football league, appeared to have suffered a grisly wound on his neck and was in a frantic state.
He was holding a 40-cm long, serrated blade with a strap around his wrist, covered in blood. Seeing that Sunthorn was about to faint from his injury, Pol. Capt. Chonlawit and other officers decided to charge and disarm him before transferring him to Pattaya Hospital. However, Sunthorn was later pronounced dead from his grievous injury.
At the scene of the incident, Pol. Capt. Chonlawit also discovered a deceased woman lying in a pool of blood behind a counter. The Thai woman, 51-year-old Mrs. Saowajee Lekkhian, was identified as the owner of the lodge where the horrific incident took place. Saowajee suffered several fatal stab wounds to her abdomen, back, throat, and cuts on her head. She died at the scene.
The Pattaya News interviewed a motorbike taxi rider who witnessed the incident, Mr. Kob (alias). He stated that he heard loud screams from a woman, so he quickly ran to see what was happening.
As he approached, Kob discovered the suspect wielding a knife and behaving in a frenzied manner, slashing his own throat and repeatedly stabbing himself. Kob shouted for people to come and help, trying to intervene, but the assailant brandished the knife at him, preventing him from getting close.
Kob noted that the suspect also attempted to crawl to the deceased woman to attack her. Eventually rescuers nearby who had come to help, Pattaya Beach lifeguards, had to grab the suspect’s leg before dragging him away from the crime scene to gain control over the situation.
In an interview with the deceased woman’s husband, Mr. Prakort Lekkhian, 58, he stated that he had been living with the victim for 20 years and they had two children together. Prakort said he had no idea about the cause of the incident.
Meanwhile, the superintendent of the Pattaya police station Pol. Col. Thanapong Phothi assumed that the cause of the incident might root from a secret affair between the suspect and the victim.
Thanapong said the deceased had once filed a report to Pattaya police, stating that the suspect had threatened her over the phone. However, the police will expedite an investigation to find the exact cause of the incident.
