Factory Worker Arrested After Shooting Colleague Dead

Police arrested a 45-year-old man known as Tiger on August 14, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. after a sprawling manhunt across rice fields in Bang Pa-In District, Ayutthaya Province. Deputy Commander Phumidhatch Khositvanichphong of Ayutthaya Provincial Police, along with Bang Pa-In Police Station Commander Piphop Naphutra and provincial and regional investigators, conducted a large-scale sweep operation across paddies near Bang and Uthai subdistricts, Moo 3, Samruen Village, Bang Pa-In District. The suspect had been evading arrest in forest hideaways amid rice fields and irrigation canals. The difficult terrain meant officers had to use motorcycles, pickup trucks, or proceed on foot rather than cars. When apprehended, Tiger still held a homemade pistol loaded with seven .38-caliber rounds.

During initial interrogation, Tiger confessed that before the incident, he had been drinking and fishing in the rice field when the victim, a friend, called and invited him to drink together. After becoming intoxicated, an argument broke out over insulting remarks, and the victim allegedly tried to hit him multiple times. Tiger claimed he then returned to his room to retrieve the pistol. Upon encountering the victim again on the way back, another quarrel ensued, after which he fired the gun and fled, subsequently hiding in various sections of the rice field where he used to fish and continued drinking.

Reporters noted that during questioning in the paddy, Tiger greeted them casually, saying "Yesterday I went back to that spot in the middle of the field again. I slept in a hammock." Several journalists realized they may have actually spotted a man sleeping in a hammock in the field. Further detailed questioning is expected to resume the following day to clarify the exact circumstances of the shooting.