Pattaya Court on Wednesday passed down death sentences for Panya Yingdung (Sia Uan, pictured), a licensee and pub owner in Patong Beach, Phuket, and two of his associates for the murder of Paweena Namuangrak and Anantachai Jaritram. The sentences have been commuted to life in prison due to their confession and cooperation.

Pattaya Court on Wednesday passed sentence on the killers of Paweena Namuangrak, 20, and Anantachai Jaritram, 21, the young couple having been gunned down in cold blood in a parking lot in front of Buddha Mountain (Khao Chi Chan) in Sattahip on July 29, 2018.

In a murder case that captured the attention of the nation, the court heard how Panya Yingdung (Sia Uan), a licensee and pub owner in Patong Beach, Phuket, conscripted the help of five associates to carry out the brutal crime after learning of the deceased pairs intimate relationship.Panya had taken a shine to Paveena during her time working for him in Phuket, but despite lavishing her with gifts and financial support she rejected his advances and instead entered into a relationship with Anantachai.

When the pair fled Phuket and flew to U-Tapao airport, a jealous Panya plotted his revenge and followed the couple to Sattahip along with his cohorts. Having carried out the grisly shooting, Panya fled to Cambodia but was later arrested and returned to Thailand following cross-border cooperation between Thai and Cambodian police agencies.

After hearing the gathered evidence and witness testimonies, Pattaya Provincial Court stated its conviction that Panya and his partners in crime, Krissana Srisuk and Narong Warinthornwech, had been directly involved in firing the lethal gunshots and passed down the death sentence on all three. This was later commuted to life in prison as the trio had cooperated with investigators and admitted their guilt.

Three more defendants, Sayan Srisuk, Kiattisak Surangsawangsaengmeeboon and Jirasak Unaibun were also convicted as accomplices in the crime, with Sanya receiving a life sentence for tracking the deceased pair and pointing them out to the killers while Kiattisak and Jirasak received 24-year prison terms. The court also considered their testimonies to have been useful to the case and commuted their sentences to 50 years for Sayan and 12 each for other two.

In addition, all six were ordered to pay 7.31 million baht to Paweenas family and 7.32 million baht to Anantachais family by way of compensation.

Wanpen Namuangruk, the mother of Paweena, said she was satisfied with the decision of the court and commented that Panya had apologized to her personally during the trial.

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Khao Chi Chan killers given life sentence - Pattaya Mail