Pattaya Daily News

Pattaya, 22 March, 2010: In the early morning, today, following the Pattaya International Music Festival, gang warfare erupted under highway bridge no.7 on the Sukhumvit Road, some 50m before the PTT petrol station, Naklua, between two rival teenage motorcycle gangs, involving one gang being shot with firearms.

Being notified of the incident at 1.30am, a police team led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Phongsawat Wongwan (Pattaya Police Investigator), accompanied by paramedics from the Sawang Boriboon Rescue Services, went to the incident to investigate.

On arrival, the police discovered a gang of 50 youths on parked motorbikes gathered round where the severe incident had occurred, to find four shot youths lying in the road, 1 of them dead. The dead youth was Kraisorn Tanphet, 14, a Grade 8 student from Mueng Pattaya 8 Secondary School. He had been shot directly in right eye thoroughly the occipital nerve, with another shot to the right chest. The other three severely injured youths were sent to either Banglamung Hospital or Pattaya Memorial Hospital for treatment. All the injured were from Mueng Pattaya 7 Secondary School. They were Saran Rurorb, 15, shot in the right leg, Natthaphon Thabthim, 17, a Grade 9 student, shot in the left leg, and Supphakiet, 15, shot in the left hip.

At the scene, police also discovered a red Honda Wave 10m from the dead body, as well as eight 9mm bullets and three no. 12 bullets, (2 used and 1 unused) on the road, which were kept as evidence.

Questioning Aphichat Rordnoi, 16, a friend of the deceased youth, who had been riding pillion at the time of the incident, police were told that before the incident, the gang leader, Kraisorn, and 50 gang members had gone to the final night of the Pattaya International Music Festival 2010 at the Bali Hai Pier Stage, South Pattaya. After the end of the festival, all the gang members left by motorbike, in order to either go home or drop friends off at different points.

At the same time, several other teen gangs were driving motorbikes out of the concert, going home. When Kraisorn’s gang reached 20m away from the incident, they found 20 youths belonging to a rival gang had parked their motorbikes beside the road. One of these teenagers pulled out a gun and began shooting at members of Kraisorn’s gang, killing the gang leader and severely injuring three others. Frightened by the developments, the other members of Kraisorn’s gang fled the scene in different directions. The gang containing the shooter also fled.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Nanthawut Suwanlaorng (Pattaya Police Superintendent) put the incident down to inter-gang rivalry and told the press that the police are currently conducting further investigations into the incident to bring the assailant to justice.

THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES

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