KOH PHANGAN — A 49-year-old tattoo shop owner was arrested after a dangerous gun incident during New Year’s countdown celebrations on Koh Phangan, Surat Thani province.
The incident, captured on video and widely shared on social media, occurred at 2:56 a.m. on January 1 outside a massage shop in Krung Thai Soi, Ban Thong Sala. Security footage shows the suspect, identified as Denchai from Phatthalung province, threatening foreign tourists with a long-barreled shotgun.
During the confrontation, another man attempted to intervene by pushing away the weapon, causing it to discharge. The bullet narrowly missed a tourist’s head, hitting the massage shop’s concrete wall. The suspect continued to threaten tourists and wandered the street with the weapon before others intervened.
Police later arrested Denchai and seized a black Remington M887 NITROMAG shotgun, its stock, and 18 rounds of 12-gauge ammunition from his residence. He was charged with attempted murder, carrying a firearm in urban areas, or public places without reasonable cause, and discharging a firearm in urban areas, villages, or public places without justifiable circumstances
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