Police continue to hunt for Phuket bar owner Panya “Sia Auan” Yingdang, 39, for allegedly murdering former teen beauty queen Paweena Namuangrak, 20, and her close friend Anantachai Jaritrum, 21, in Chon Buri on July 29.
Meanwhile, police said that Panya’s 22-year-old accomplice Narong Warintharawet was arrested on Monday in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Narong was to be flown into Bangkok later on Monday so he can re-enact the crime in Chon Buri on Tuesday.
Krissana – who allegedly rented the house where the murder was plotted and allegedly drove alongside Panya to provide protection – was taken in for questioning at the Na Chom Thien police station early on Monday.
After the couple’s fatal shooting in broad daylight at Sattahip district’s Khao Chi Chan tourist attraction, police apprehended suspect Jeerasak Unaiban, 34, who had been tailing the victims’ rented car in a white sedan and providing information to the alleged shooters, Panya and Narong.
Days later, police nabbed alleged spotter Sayan Sisuk, 43, and Kiattisak Surangsaengoonmee, 35, who allegedly drove the getaway pick-up truck. Kiattisak is believed to have helped Panya flee, so the alleged shooter could drop the four guns used in a roadside bush near Tambon Plu Ta Luang Train Station in Sattahip district.
Paweena, a district-level former teen beauty queen from Kalasin, died instantly after being shot at four times allegedly by Narong, while Anantachai succumbed to three gunshot wounds allegedly from Panya. The couple was at Khao Chi Chan around 5pm on July 29 to make merit to mark Paweena’s birthday.
Though the motive of the killing is not clear yet, police believe it might have to do with Panya’s jealousy and anger after Paweena recently moved from Phuket to Nakhon Pathom with Anantachai for work.
