A police captain from Bangkok’s Wang Thong Lang district police was sentenced to 20 years in prison today (Wednesday), after he was found guilty by the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court of shooting his wife to death with a pistol at their house two years ago.

Pol Cpt Songklod Boonsong was charged with using his .45 calibre pistol to kill his wife, Pimchadaporn Pooyamsai, following a heated argument at their house in the Bang Kapi area of Bangkok on June 20^th, 2020.

During the trial, the officer claimed that he used the gun to intimidate his wife and had no intention to shoot her.

The court dismissed his claim, saying that he had pointed the gun at his wife’s head and should have anticipated that, if the gun discharged, accidentally or otherwise, his wife could have been killed.

The court also said that the firearm had discharged accidentally, after the victim’s hand struck the weapon.

The court also ordered the defendant to pay 720,000 baht in compensation his late wife’s relatives.

Thailand has a high rate of gun-related killings, in which the weapon has often been used amid relationship and even trivial disputes. The country suffered its worst mass shooting in February 2020 when a soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima before he was shot dead.