Shooter, likely a hitman, was waiting for the two victims in parking lot.
The grief-stricken relatives of two young people who were shot dead in front of tourists in broad daylight at a parking lot of a Chon Buri tourist attraction on Sunday, called on Tuesday for the authorities to quickly arrest the killers.
Kalasin native Paweena Namuangrak, 20, was shot four times and her 20-year-old high school friend Anantachai Jaritram three times. They died side by side next to a car that they and two other friends had rented in Pattaya City for the day to visit the Sattaphip district’s Khao Chi Chan attraction to make merit and celebrate Paweena’s birthday on Saturday.
A police probe has so far found that the shooter – suspected to be a hitman – was waiting in a white sedan at the parking lot before shooting the two victims and speeding away. Their bodies were transported on Monday night to their Kalasin hometown for separate funeral rites.
During a prayer in the morning for Paweena, her 41-year-old grief-stricken mother Wanpen Namuangrak recalled that her daughter had dropped out of Udon Thani Rajabhat University in early 2016 to work at a night entertainment venue in Phuket, where a neighbor also worked, in order to help with the family’s expenses. Paweena later moved to work in Nakhon Pathom. Wanpen didn’t know if Paweena had any conflicts with anyone. Anantachai was Paweena’s schoolmate who went to work together with
Paweena, she said. “When I heard that she and Anantachai were shot dead at Khao Chi Chan, my heart broke,” she said.
“I still don’t know what to say about how my loving daughter who had helped earn income to support our family would find an end like that. I want police to bring my daughter’s killers to justice as soon as possible.”
Grief also lingered at the house of Anantachai, whose relatives declined to comment other than to say they wanted police to bring the killers to justice. The cremation of Anantachai was scheduled for August 1, with Paweena’s cremation on August 2.
