CHONBURI — A homeless man was robbed of his meager savings and beaten to death by a group of assailants in Chonburi province last night, police say.
Pol.Lt. Direk Pimpha, an officer at Sriracha Police Station, said the man was found dead in front of a furniture shop on Sukhumvit Road in Sriracha district this morning. The man was apparently killed by blows to the head, police say. A piece of wood, believed to be the assailants' weapon, was reportedly found near the crime scene.
According to Pol.Lt. Direk, witnesses told police the deceased was a homeless man in his fifties with no known relatives. The man reportedly worked menial jobs in the nearby fresh market to earn 200-300 baht per day, and slept in front of the furniture shop every night.
Pol.Lt. Direk said a group of "alcoholic" thieves are known to hang around in the area. "We believe they saw that the victim had some money on him, because he worked every day, so they beat him to death with a piece of wood," the officer told reporters.
He added that police are studying CCTV footage in the area to identify and locate the suspects.
The incident followed a spike of crimes in Chonburi province last week.
