Body Shop Worker Found Dead On Beach, Suspect Flees On Motorcycle
A 46-year-old body shop worker was found dead on a Chonburi beach on July 6, with an overweight suspect on a motorcycle fleeing the scene; police are investigating whether gambling debts may have motivated the killing.
On July 6, Lieutenant Kanoknanth Suksri from Pattaya City Police's Dong Tarn Curve substation responded to a report of an unidentified death at Chomtien Soi 10, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Banglamung District, Chonburi Province. Officers found the body of Ood, 46, a body shop technician, lying shirtless in black jeans with a broken Buddhist amulet on his right wrist and a mobile phone about five meters away. A pair of flip-flops lay two meters apart, and a red t-shirt believed to belong to the victim was found discarded nearby.
A taxi driver acquaintance stated he knew the deceased from their shared hometown in Sisaket Province and saw him lying dead in an unusual condition on the beach.
Somman, a close friend of the deceased, revealed that on July 5 the victim came to his house complaining of gambling debts—possibly from cockfighting or boxing matches—totaling 2,500 baht. The victim said he had no money to pay and told Somman, "If I can't give him the money, just let him come kill me." That was their last conversation. Somman gave him 100 baht, but now believes the friend was murdered, not a suicide or natural death. He reported that an overweight, shirtless man on a motorcycle rode away on the victim's bike.
CCTV footage showed at 4:34 a.m. an overweight man on a white Honda Click motorcycle arriving at the beach, then walking down to the sand. At 4:48 a.m., the victim began convulsing on the ground with no one assisting him, including the mysterious man. At 5:23 a.m., the victim became motionless, likely the time of death. The suspect then walked back up, spoke with a group of transgender women about 20 meters from the body, and left on the motorcycle at 6:27 a.m.
Police have not yet determined the cause of death and have sent the body for autopsy at the Police Hospital Institute of Forensic Medicine. Investigators are gathering evidence and seeking to question the last person seen with the victim.
