A 53-year-old mentally ill man was found shot dead outside his home in Nakhon Si Thammarat, along with drug-related equipment. He had a history of hallucinations and frequently caused disturbances, attacking local villagers with a knife.
At 10:00 on 24 Jun 2026, police from Lan Saka Police Station in Nakhon Si Thammarat received a report of a shooting death outside a house in Ban Nai Put, Lan Saka Subdistrict, Lan Saka District. Police investigators, a forensic doctor, and rescue workers from Sawang Thammasathan Lan Saka Foundation promptly arrived at the scene.
At the scene, on roadside grass in front of the house, the body of Mr. Narong, also known as Pae Damnoenphon, aged 53, was found lying face down, clutching a 1.5-meter-long metal pipe. He wore only shorts and no shirt. He had two gunshot wounds from a .38 caliber handgun to his torso and abdomen, lying in a pool of blood outside his own home.
He was estimated to have been dead for at least 14-16 hours, based on rigor mortis and blood coagulation. Inside the house, where he lived alone, there were signs of drug use and one set of drug paraphernalia was found and collected as evidence.
Interviews with locals revealed that Mr. Narong, or Pae, had mental illness and a history of violent outbursts, frequently attacking villagers with a knife, causing injuries. He had previously caused two fatal attacks in 2010 and 2011 but was not prosecuted due to his mental health condition and treatment at Suan Saranyaram Hospital in Surat Thani. He had since lived alone in this home but continued to suffer hallucinations and harass local residents despite relatives’ efforts to seek treatment for him.
Nearby residents reported hearing several gunshots on the evening of 23 Jun but paid little attention. The next morning, a villager passing by discovered Mr. Narong’s body, shot overnight. It is suspected that the deceased, possibly hallucinating, was wielding a metal pipe and attacking villagers, provoking a local who then fatally shot him. Police are investigating to identify and prosecute the perpetrator according to the law.