Pattaya police rushed to the scene of a shooting incident on Soi Nernplubwam in East Pattaya. At the scene near the Sukhumvit end of the long Soi they found that the victim had already been transported to Banglamung Hospital by friends.
Police sent a team to the hospital and another team secured the scene to interview witnesses and collect evidence. The victim Khun Sakda aged 18 is a volunteer policeman at Nongprue police station and was off duty at the time of the shooting. He had been shot in the chest and was in a serious condition in hospital.
Witnesses said that Khun Sakda was sat on his motorcycle at the side of the road waiting for some friends to arrive to go to eat at a local restaurant when a group of about 8 Thai youths on 3 or 4 motorcycles pulled up alongside. One of them pulled a gun and fired several shots one of them hitting and severely wounding Khun Sakda before driving off in the direction of North Pattaya.
Police searched the area but could not find any shell casings. There were CCTV cameras and these are being looked at to see if they contain images of the attackers. It is not known at this time what the motive for the shooting is however there is tension between police and local Thai hooligans. Whether this is a personal hit or just an attempt to shoot any police officer is yet to be ascertained.
