Police Major Among 4 Shot Dead in Illegal Gambling Den

A police major was among four people shot dead at a gambling den in Yannawa district overnight, reportedly by a losing gambler. Police were hunting for the killer.


According to media reports, the shooting occurred after a man of Chinese appearance drew a gun, claimed he was being cheated and demanded his money back.


The slain officer was identified as Pol Maj Watthaset Samniangprasert, an interrogation inspector at Samae Dam police station in Bang Bon district.


The den was operating on the ground floor of a four-storey commercial building surrounded by security cameras about 300 metres off Rama III Road in soi 66.


The premises had strong, opaque doors and access appeared heavily restricted. There were chairs and tables, and monitor screens on the walls.


Reports said several gunshots were fired about 10 o’clock on Monday night. Four people were killed – the police officer, another man and two women.


Bangkok police chief Pol Lt Gen Pakapong Pongpetra rushed to inspect the scene and left it without answering reporters’ questions.

Police Major Among 4 Shot Dead in Illegal Gambling Den | Chiang Mai One

Of course he was being cheated, and as military/police-operated gaming houses are protected premises after this unfortunate mishap they might consider cheating a bit less in future.

Questions might also be asked what the major was doing there if he wasn't the house man, and (for cynical me) did the responding Lt Gen secure the scene and arrest participants, and why he left without comment. Meh!

Deadly Shootout: Cops to Determine If Gambling Den is a Gambling Den

Khao Sod English

BANGKOK — Bangkok police commander said it was too early to say whether the gambling den where four people, including a policeman, was killed in a shootout can be classified as one – to the widespread mockery of netizens Wednesday.


Metro police chief Lt. Gen. Pakkapong Pongpetra said the venue, located at a shophouse in Soi Rama III 66, isn’t technically a casino because only one gambling table was found at the scene. Police also insisted the fatal shooting was driven by “personal issues.”

MORE Deadly Shootout: Cops to Determine If Gambling Den is a Gambling Den

Seems a lot of evidence went walkies in the THIRTY MINUTES it took police to respond to a fatal shooting.

There's a surprise.

Police still doubt place officer killed was gambling den

Cover up, so what's new.

Vital gambling den shootout footage missing

Closed-circuit television camera footage viewed as key evidence in Monday's shootout at a gambling den in Bangkok must have been removed, says the city's police chief.


Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pakapong Pongpetra said on Wednesday that his officers were working as speedily as possible to discover the circumstances in which a police officer was killed, along with three others, at the illegal casino on Rama III Road on Monday night.


The dead officer has been named as Pol Maj Watthanaset Samniangprasert, 32, an interrogation inspector at Samae Dam police station, who is reported to have frequently gambled at the venue.


Pol Lt Gen Pakapong said every single CCTV camera inside the den appears to have been removed by the time police arrived at the scene 30 minutes after the shooting.


The commissioner said if police had solid evidence that the place operated as a casino, its owner would be charged.

Most recently, the four-storey building in Yannawa district, where the ground-floor den is located, was leased to a man named Tor, who opened what became a popular casino.


Police say that late Monday night, a man of Chinese appearance shot dead Pol Maj Watthanaset and two other people before being shot dead himself by another man who fled the premises and is still at large.


It is believed that a personal feud motivated the gunman to kill Pol Maj Watthanaset.


Pol Lt Gen Pakapong said yesterday that the building owner and those known to have gambled there would be questioned in connection with the case.


The commissioner confirmed it took police half an hour to reach the den after being told of the shooting. A blood-stained Baccarat table was reportedly found dumped behind the building.


Outspoken former MP Chuwit Kamolvisit and former metropolitan police officer Santhana Prayoonrat will be invited to provide information about such gambling dens. They have often given media interviews on the subject, Pol Lt Gen Pakapong said.


He said all relevant facts would be studied before any conclusion was drawn on whether police had failed to suppress the den's activities. Those who had destroyed vital evidence would also be identified and charged.


A committee investigating alleged police involvement in casinos generally is different from the one investigating this particular shooting spree.

Vital gambling den shootout footage missing

Video shows cameras being removed from shootout gambling den

A video spreading on social media shows men hastily removing the security cameras at a gambling den in Bangkok's Yannawa district where four people were shot dead on Monday night, one of them an off-duty police major.


"Remove all (cameras)," says a man in the video. "Use pliers to cut all electrical wires," another says.


"Any motorcyclists have chains? Use them to lock the doors," the man added.


The clip, clearly taken surreptitiously, also shows men taking some equipment away. A blood-stained Baccarat table was found dumped behind the building.


It seems to explain why police were able to say they found no security cameras inside the premises when they arrived 30 minutes after the fatal shootout.

There had been about two dozen cameras inside and outside the building.


Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Pakapong Pongpetra admitted on Wednesday that the cameras were missing.


A police major was killed by a man he had reportedly been arguing with over a gambling debt. Two women were also hit and killed. The shooter was then shot dead by another man, said to be a casino employee, who fled the building.


Former MP Chuwit Kamolvisit told Spring News on Wednesday the gambling den had been operating for over 20 years and was run by a man known as "Hia Tee".

Video shows cameras being removed from shootout gambling den

Bangkok casino shooter insists he acted alone: police



A man who confessed to killing a gunman, who had already shot dead 3 people at an illegal Bangkok gambling den on Monday night, insists he acted alone, police announced today. Authorities took 61 year old Phiphit Srisuwan, alias “Boy Baan Khrua” to the Bangkok South Criminal Court to seek his detention in connection with the fatal shooting in a building off Rama III Road.


Officers opposed bail, saying he poses a flight risk or might interfere with evidence if released. Phiphit stands charged with murder, illegal possession of firearms, carrying a firearm in public and unlawful use of a firearm. Police say he’s confessed to all charges.


The court approved his detention from today until August 19 and he was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison. Suspects can be detained for up to 7 12 day periods, or 84 days, before an indictment must be made. A source said nobody attended the hearing to apply for bail for his temporary release.


Phiphit’s case has captured public attention because one of the victims of the gunman he’s accused of killing was a policeman. The initial police response was to question whether the venue where the shootings occurred was actually a “gambling den”. The fact that all the security cameras on the premises were hastily dismantled before police arrived added to the intrigue.


Before being brought to the court, the 61 year old suspect was taken for a reenactment on the ground floor of the 4 storey commercial building in Soi 66 off Rama III Road in Yannawa district. The chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau went to Thung Mahamek station at around 8am to interrogate hiim before he was taken for the crime reenactment.


Phiphit surrendered to police last night (some media reported that he turned himself in on Thursday) to answer a charge of killing 51 year old Thavorn Seesod. During interrogation, Phiphit confessed to firing shots at Thavorn as he was gambling at the venue. He claimed Thavorn had already shot dead police officer Watthanaset Samnianprasert, who was also gambling there. Phiphit then fired more shots at Thavorn before fleeing.


Police are now focusing on the security cameras, recordings and gambling equipment they recovered, after it was hastily removed from the gambling den on Monday night. The equipment was found yesterday in a 3 storey shophouse opposite the building housing the casino. So far they have made 1 arrest in connection with attempts to destroy evidence. 46 year old Thanabul Sarnluek, of Bang Khun Thian district, was taken to court this morning and released on 200,000 baht bail posted by his relatives.

Bangkok casino shooter insists he acted alone: police | The Thaiger

What a country . . .