SURAT THANI: A ranger in the Namtok Than Sadet National Park on Ko Phangan island was found shot dead in a house for park rangers on Saturday, police said.
Pol Col Panya Niratimanond, chief of Koh Phangan police, said the discovery of the death was reported to the police station at 10.06am. Police went to the house at Moo 5 village in tambon Ban Tai, Koh Pha-ngan district to investigate.
Officers found Anantasak Seethon, 29, who was from Surat Thani’s Ban Nasan district, lying dead in a cloth hammock hung between windows across the corner of a room. He was wearing a green shirt and a pair of shorts. There was a gunshot wound in the right temple.
The room was splattered with blood. A knife and a bullet were found in the room. The police recovered a home-made shotgun from the bathroom.
Forensic officials and the police collected all evidence for examination.
Pol Col Panya said an investigation was launched into the death, which – judging from surrounding circumstances – looked more likely to be a murder than an act of suicide.
He said Anantasak was on record as having sought treatment for mental illness at Ban Nasan Hospital. Before he was found dead, Anantasak had gone to his home in Ban Nasan district. Prior to his return to the island, he reportedly went berserk and destroyed property in the house.