Phatthalung police probe motive in shooting of prominent contractor

PHATTHALUNG — 20 October 2026, Police are investigating the motive for a shooting that left a prominent construction contractor wounded. The gunman used a .22-calibre rifle and is believed to have approached on foot, police said.

The shooting took place at about 19:50 on Tuesday outside a company in tambon Khok Sak, Bang Kaeo district. Police were told that an unknown number of suspects had shot a construction businessman. Officers found bloodstains and a golf club at the scene, but the injured man had already been taken to hospital by relatives.

The victim, identified as Saeng-ar-thit, 57, owns Spec Concrete Co (บริษัท สเปค คอนกรีต จำกัด) and is a well-known construction contractor in the province. He was shot once below his right ear.

A female employee told police that Saeng-ar-thit had been practising golf outside the company from about 17:30, with his two daughters sitting nearby. At about 19:55, she heard two faint gunshots. One of the daughters then asked her to take her father to hospital. She went to alert his wife, who helped transport him to hospital.

The employee also said that five days earlier, a dog kept in a cage had been poisoned. She said she had not suspected a connection until her employer was shot. The report says he later died.

At 09:30 on 21 October, Phatthalung Provincial Police chief Pol Maj Gen Chawalit Phetsripia, provincial investigators, Region 9 police investigators and an explosive ordnance disposal team returned to the scene to look for further evidence.

Police are initially focusing on possible business disputes involving construction contracts in the province. Chawalit said investigators were reviewing CCTV footage and believed the gunman may have walked to the scene rather than travelled by vehicle. The area was secluded and overgrown, with no nearby cameras covering the route used to escape. Police have questioned the victim’s wife and some people close to the family.