Police Officer Dead after Car Chase and Gun Battle in Chiang Rai

On Tuesday night, an anti-narcotics police officer and a suspected drug trafficker were killed, and another officer was injured in a gun battle following a car chase in Mueang district of Chiang Rai province.

Police recovered approximately six million meth pills and an undisclosed amount of crystal meth (Ice) from a narcotics trafficking gang’s pickup truck. A 9mm semi-automatic weapon was discovered near the body of the alleged trafficker, the name of whom was not revealed.

A narcotics suppression squad was dispatched last night to a secondary road in Mae Yao sub-district to set up a road block at around 9 p.m., after receiving information that a car used by traffickers was on its way from the border area to a customer in the country’s interior.

The police signalled the suspicious automobile to halt for a search as it approached the checkpoint, but the driver crashed through the checkpoint and drove away, leading the police to engage in a car chase.

The driver then lost control of the vehicle, which collided with a roadside utility pole. He exited the wrecked truck and opened fire on the officers, sparking a brief gun battle that left the suspect and one cop dead and another officer injured.

According to reports, another officer, Pol Lt-Col Veerasak Rattanaprayoon, narrowly averted harm when a bullet ripped through his shirt.

Police Arrest Father for His Killing 5 Children

Meanwhile,  police investigators and forensic personnel led a murder suspect, his current and former spouses, to four spots in the Bang Sue and Sai Mai districts where four children who have been missing since 2013 are believed to be buried.

After confessing to killing his own 2-year-old daughter, born to his current spouse, Sunan, the 46-year-old murder suspect, Songsak, allegedly told authorities that he killed four children of one of his previous spouses, Jesada.

Songsak and Sunan both took police to her Kamphaeng Phet home to exhume the death of their 2-year-old son, who was discovered buried under the kitchen sink on May 21.

Songsak had 10 children, ranging in age from six months to 22 years, born to his three past lovers and present spouse, according to authorities. Jesada, one of them, had five children, four of whom were allegedly killed by Songsak and disposed of in the Sai Mai and Bang Khen districts. The fifth child, a 12-year-old girl, is currently residing in a state welfare shelter.

Jesada reportedly told police that she had known Songsak since 2010 and had two children with him, but that she ended her relationship with him approximately two years ago after discovering that he was unfaithful. When asked about her four deceased children, she refused to comment.

The suspect claims to have psychiatric issues and has been on medicine for some years.

Pol Maj-Gen Atthaphol Anusith, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s 2nd subdivision, attributed information regarding Songsak and his current companion, Suna, to Kan Chom Palang, a Good Samaritan who notified the police that Songsak was brutally abusing two of the children.