The owner of a durian orchard in Surat Thani’s Muang district surrendered to police after allegedly fatally shooting a man he suspected of stealing his fruit early Thursday morning.
Sukhon Sutthirak, 56, faces a murder charge after being arrested by police inside his durian orchard in Tambon Kradae.
The suspected thief has yet to be identified. He was shot once in the forehead with a .357 revolver.
Sukhon told police that many of his durians had been stolen from the trees over a period of several days.
He said he heard sound of a durian hitting the ground so he ran out to check and saw two men running away while another man remained in the the tree.
Sukhon said he shouted to the man to get down but the man shouted back that he had a gun. He added that the man appeared to be reaching for his weapon in the pocket of his shorts so he fired once at him and ran.
When the shot proved fatal, he told his wife to call the police.
