Police in Chiang Rai have arrested a 43-year-old man nearly 19 years after he fatally stabbed a police cadet during a restaurant dispute in Bangkok.
Pol Maj Gen Wittaya Sriprasertparp, commander of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), said the killing took place in Bangkok’s Prawet district in 2006.
Thanawat, a fourth-year cadet from the Royal Police Cadet Academy, was dining with friends when Nattawut and three other men, all drunk, began causing a disturbance.
Thanawat intervened, leading to a heated argument. Nattawut then allegedly drew an eight-inch folding knife and stabbed Thanawat in the right ribcage, killing him.
While Nattawut’s friends were arrested soon after, he fled and lived under a false identity in Chiang Rai until his recent capture.
Police apprehended him before the case’s statute of limitations expires in 2026. Nattawut has confessed and was sent to Udom Suk police station for prosecution.
