Acting city police chief Sanit Mahathaworn, who led a police team to inspect the crime scene yesterday – a construction site office on Luang Phaeng Road – told reporters that the suspect Pattana Kavi, 48, was arrested in Chiang Mai province and confessed to killing Weerachart Olarnpiriyakul, 66, out of rage.

Pattana will be transferred to Bangkok to be interrogated further to uncover the real motive behind the killing, Sanit said.

Police believe the murder could stem from a conflict over a Bt430-million project to build a showroom housing Thai souvenirs on the seven-hectare site on Luang Phaeng Road.

Pattana was hired as a supervisor for the project’s construction while Weerachart served as the construction adviser, Sanit said. Although Pattana claimed he committed the crime on his own, police would check evidence for signs of an accomplice, he said.

‘Masked men’ seen previously

An informed source reported that Pattana was at the scene when police first responded to discovery of the body before fleeing in a car.

The source said police were looking into information that a group of men wearing ski masks arrived at the construction site looking for Weerachart on June 2 but he was in a meeting so they left. This led police to believe the murder might have been planned and the victim might have known he was targeted.

The victim’s son San Olarnpiriyakul, 39, had monks performed a ritual to invite his father’s spirit back home and thanked police for arresting his father’s alleged killer fast.

He said his father was a good man who talked straight when he saw anyone doing something wrong, which might have made some people dislike him.

The university lecturer said his father was a good model, and he tried to teach his students based on his father’s actions and advice to him.