John Denver karaoke sparks Thai killing spree – Sunday Telegraph
From Andrew Drummond,
Bangkok
A gunman in Thailand who shot-dead eight neighbours, including his
brother-in-law, said yesterday he had had enough of the noise and their
awful karaoke singing.
Weenus Chumkamnerd, 52, put his gun to the head of a respected female
doctor and seven of her guests as they partied at her home in Songkhla
Province, South Thailand.
‘When I began shooting nobody pleaded for his life because they were all drunk,’ he said after his arrest.
Weenus said he was so furious himself that he did not notice he had murdered his brother-in-law.
‘I warned these people about their noisy karaoke parties. I said if
they carried on I would go down and shoot them. I had told them if I
couldn’t talk sense into them I would come back and finish them off,’
he added.
Weenus, a rubber tapper, was arrested yesterday after going on the
run after his killing spree on Sunday last week in the townn of Hat
Yai, near the Malaysian border.
The doctor who was hosting the party, Dr. Suthathip Thammachart, 36, a
director of a local hospital who was due this month to get an awards
for her services to medicine.
Weenus short her husband, Trirat, first and she was the last person
to be shot. Her husband who would have been the nineth fatality survived
after playing dead convincing Weenus that he too had been killed. He
later recovered in hospital.
When he realised he had shot his brother-in-law, named Boontip
Desaro, Weenus said he was filled with remorse. He got his son to take
Boontip to hospital, but he was already dead.
A neighbour said that the karaoke group normaly sang Thai pop and
southern Thai ballads, but one particular western tune could be heard
often – John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’.
From Andrew Drummond,
Bangkok
A gunman in Thailand who shot-dead eight neighbours, including his
brother-in-law, said yesterday he had had enough of the noise and their
awful karaoke singing.
Weenus Chumkamnerd, 52, put his gun to the head of a respected female
doctor and seven of her guests as they partied at her home in Songkhla
Province, South Thailand.
‘When I began shooting nobody pleaded for his life because they were all drunk,’ he said after his arrest.
Weenus said he was so furious himself that he did not notice he had murdered his brother-in-law.
‘I warned these people about their noisy karaoke parties. I said if
they carried on I would go down and shoot them. I had told them if I
couldn’t talk sense into them I would come back and finish them off,’
he added.
Weenus, a rubber tapper, was arrested yesterday after going on the
run after his killing spree on Sunday last week in the townn of Hat
Yai, near the Malaysian border.
The doctor who was hosting the party, Dr. Suthathip Thammachart, 36, a
director of a local hospital who was due this month to get an awards
for her services to medicine.
Weenus short her husband, Trirat, first and she was the last person
to be shot. Her husband who would have been the nineth fatality survived
after playing dead convincing Weenus that he too had been killed. He
later recovered in hospital.
When he realised he had shot his brother-in-law, named Boontip
Desaro, Weenus said he was filled with remorse. He got his son to take
Boontip to hospital, but he was already dead.
A neighbour said that the karaoke group normaly sang Thai pop and
southern Thai ballads, but one particular western tune could be heard
often – John Denver’s ‘Country Roads’.
