The family of a deceased taxi driver on Samui Island has sought help and witness protection from the Justice Ministry following the fatal shooting of a family member on Sunday.
The wife of the deceased taxi driver told an official at the Department of the Protection of Rights and Liberties yesterday that she is not sure that police on the island will pursue the case in earnest because of the influence of the perpetrator.
She also said that the family had decided to move away from Samui, fearing for their safety, adding that they are too afraid even to claim the body of her husband from the hospital for proper burial.
She disclosed that, before the fatal shooting on Sunday, her taxi driver husband had been in a dispute with a group of private taxi drivers over a parking space, where several taxies stop to pick up passengers, adding that the conflict was settled with the intervention of a go-between.
When her husband went to the same parking space on Sunday to wait for passengers, he was attacked by a group of cabbies, shot and killed.
She said that, when she filed a complaint with the district police about the killing, the enquiry officer on duty claimed that CCTV footage from the scene of the shooting is too blurred to really assess what had occurred.
She claimed that, eventually, she obtained footage from a tourist, who had managed to record the shooting, but the police claim that no one has come forward to provide information.
She went on to say that she doubts that the police are serious about pursuing the case and decided to seek help from the Justice Ministry in Bangkok.
Natthaphol Danchittrong, a specialist at the Department of the Protection of Rights and Liberties, said they will provide free legal advice to her and arrange compensation.
Meanwhile, the Region 8 Provincial Police Bureau assured the family that police are investigating the case and have detained a suspect for questioning. Police have also found a car used by the suspected shooter in his escape.
