Market owner shoots at ex-business partner and injures bystander in gun rampage

A market owner sparked panic when he shot at his ex-business partner for allegedly opening a new market next to his.

Manus Korcharoenkit, 68, stormed into the Ko Beng Ban Phon Market which he owned to confront his former friend Kittisak Sotraksa, 64, on the evening of September 23.

The pair were said to previously be business associates who had a falling out in recent years. Kittisak was in the area allegedly trying to headhunt stallholders into joining his new market just half a mile away.

The two men had a row and Manus allegedly fired a gun at Kittisak, but hit bystander Boonlod Panthupan, 50, instead.

The ex-business partners fled the scene as police arrived to intervene.

Officers rushed Boonlod to a hospital to be treated for a shoulder injury.

Manus turned himself in to the police and surrendered his Colt .45 gun that same evening.

Police Colonel Ekkalak Boonsaengcharoen, chief of investigation at the Phuket Provincial Police, said: 'The two owners of the market in the Thalang Police Station area might have come to an argument. We are still investigating.

'The existing market is a partnership and they are going to sell this land plot and make a new market. There were two injured people. The shooter is safe. His gun is legally permitted.'

Market worker Akkarapon Khamthi, 21, said he had heard Manus arguing with Kittisak and asking 'why he had done this' before the gunshots were fired.

Manus claimed he had used his gun in self-defense as Kittisak allegedly tried to assault him. He was taken to the Thalang Hospital for a physical examination.

Police said he faces multiple charges, including 'carrying a gun in a public area', 'firing a gun in public without a proper reason' and 'attempted murder with a firearm'.

Thailand has one of the highest gun ownership and gun homicide rates among Southeast Asian nations. Many of the firearms are believed to be sold by government and police officers, who can buy and sell them at a discounted rate under the government's 'gun welfare programme'.

The persistent gun culture is said to stem from a distrust of crime control policies, especially in rural areas.

Former Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had previously vowed to tighten gun control laws following a shooting at a Bangkok mall in October 2023 that rattled locals in the capital.