Wisarut Butkhun, 32, was found dead in his house in Chanthaburi province with a bullet hole in his forehead. His father and uncle said he shot himself after being harassed over political comments on Facebook.

Source: Krisada Sawatdichai

Pol Capt Chumphon Chansang, Deputy Inspector of Khao Khitchakut Police Station, was informed about a suicide in a house at Soi Takhianthong 9/2. The police went to the scene along with paramedics and forensic officers.

The body lay face up on a wooden bed with a traditionally made rifle in the left hand, the bullet shell still in the barrel. Forensics collected fingerprints and gun powder residue as evidence.

Wisarut's uncle, Likhit Kaeonoi, 39, reported to the authorities that his nephew probably killed himself because he was stressed over rude political comments he had posted on Facebook. Likhit said that Wisarut once came to him for advice after other Facebook users had responded by saying said that his comments may have violated the Computer Crime Act.

Likhit said a few days before the suicide, an unknown person made a phone call to Wisarut asking about the Facebook post but the caller’s number could not be reached. A pickup with men in military-like camouflage were often seen riding past his house, intensifying Wisarut's anxiety. His uncle tried to calm him down saying there is always a way out, but his words did not work.

Wisarut's father, Somsak Butkhun, 53, said his son regularly drove him in his pickup to sell fruit at the market, but one day Wisarut told his father he was still stressed over the men in camouflage, and was afraid of being abducted and physically assaulted. So, the father drove himself and asked his son to accompany him.

On 13 June, Wisarut disappeared from the house where he usually slept. The father was worried and searched for him, only to find him dead in another house on his fruit farm. The police were called in. The corpse will be returned to the relatives for the funeral ceremony after an autopsy.