A street seller who beat a Thai tourist to death with a pole outside a restaurant in Koh Kong province’s Khemara Phoumint City on Tuesday night was charged with murder by the provincial court on Wednesday, officials said Thursday.
Lay Tiro, deputy chief of the provincial police’s serious crimes bureau, said Sin Sarath, a 38-year-old street seller with a history of mental illness and violence, was charged for the murder of Surachai Sovankampo.
“After questioning, Investigating Judge Chhun Davy decided to charge him with murder,” Mr. Tiro said. “We already sent him to pretrial detention at the provincial prison since 6:30 p.m. yesterday evening.”
According to witnesses, Mr. Sarath attempted to sell Surachai Sovankampo goods including chewing gum outside a restaurant owned by the victim’s children near the Cham Yeam border checkpoint.
After a brief exchange, Mr. Sarath disappeared briefly, then returned with a 2-meter wooden pole and beat the victim to death.
“We need to send him to the court because of his serious mistake. Whether he is mentally ill or not is the court’s decision,” Mr. Tiro said.
