Thailand: illegal gambling den operator arrested for murder

Somchai Jutikitdecha, an illegal gambling den operator, has been arrested on suspicion of proxy murder.

US.- A man who operated casino dens in Thailand has been arrested again, but this time for the murder of the man who informed the police about his illegal gambling activities.

Somchai Jutikitdecha, also known as Longjoo Somchai, was arrested at his house on Rat Bamrung Road in the Noen Phra tambon in Muang district at around 6am on Thursday.

He has been charged with the proxy murder of taxi motorcyclist Prathum Sa-adnak, who was shot dead behind Muang Pattaya 8 School in July last year.

According to police, Prathum had taken photos of a place in Pattaya used by Jutikitdecha for illegal gambling. The property was subsequently raided by police, provoking the owner to order two supervisors to kill Prathum.

The two supervisors have been named as Suphan Mai-ngam and Thaworn Sarakul. They were arrested on December 9 and subsequently linked to Somchai by detectives.

Somchai was arrested in February this year for allegedly operating a network of gambling dens. Various items were confiscated, from bank accounts to gold jewellery, vehicles, condominium units, houses and blocks of land.

Approximately 253 police offers are also being investigated by Thai authorities for their suspected involvement in illegal gambling in the Southeast Asian country.