BANGLAMUNG, Chonburi: A police officer’s son pleaded through tears for nearly 30 minutes outside his father’s home Wednesday night, begging him to come to a window, put down his weapon and surrender. There was no reply and the standoff has continued between the suspect who is accused of killing his wife, a kindergarten teacher in Banglamung, at her school with dozens of students present yesterday, September 9th.
The standoff began after Police Sub-Lieutenant Thassaphong Thongthach, 55, known as “Lieutenant Oh,” deputy patrol inspector at Banglamung Police Station, fatally shot his wife at a kindergarten and then returned to their house. His wife, Pailin Thongthach, 48, known as “Teacher Ple,” a teacher at Nong Pla Lai Municipal Kindergarten in Bang Lamung district, was killed inside the school. Police later surrounded the family home and spent hours trying to talk him out.
Police Senior Sergeant Major Rachat Thongthach, known as “Folk,” the couple’s son and himself a police officer stationed in southern Thailand, arrived at the scene and was allowed to try to reach his father. Standing near a window, he called out through tears:
“Dad… Folk loves you. How are you? Come talk to me at the window, Dad. I’m begging you. No one is going to do anything to you.”
He asked his father to open the window, assured him officers would not harm him, and then said:
“Dad, no one is going to do anything to you. Can Folk walk into the house to see you? Folk wants to hug you.”
After about 30 minutes with no sound or response from inside, officers pulled the son back for his own safety. Relatives, close associates and people Lieutenant Oh was said to respect had already tried to negotiate. None of those efforts produced meaningful contact.
Police kept a tight cordon around the house and continued to assess the situation. Officers briefly prepared personnel and equipment to enter and search the residence, then were ordered to hold off after only a few minutes. Commanders withdrew to confer and revise their plan.
Authorities said they were giving priority to the safety of everyone involved and still hoped to end the siege without further bloodshed. The surrounding of the house continued and the suspect was believed to still be alive based on movement and sounds from inside.