Lumber Merchant Shot Dead in Bannang Sata Ambush
A major timber mill owner in Bannang Sata, Yala was shot and killed in an ambush attack on July 13, with police investigating links to previous arson attacks on his facility and ongoing security concerns in the area.
At 10:00 a.m. on July 13, 2026, Deputy Superintendent Suchart Khunjit of Bannang Sata Police Station in Yala received a report that a gunman had shot a major lumber mill owner in the area, leaving him critically injured near a company office in Moo 9, Ban Cha Pun Tang, Bannang Sata Subdistrict, Bannang Sata District, Yala Province. Police immediately rushed to the scene with Superintendent Atthapol Kulvongmanasopha, District Official Weerachouk Bunyaswadi, and Lieutenant Colonel Nathawut Rattanagal, commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion special operations unit, along with security personnel.
At the scene, only blood was found. The victim was Chatchawalya, 60, a businessman and owner of a major lumber mill partnership in Bannang Sata. He was transported to Bannang Sata Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left front chest, but died shortly afterward. Officers cordoned off the area while forensic teams collected evidence and traced the shooter's bullet trajectory. Radio alerts were issued to intercept any suspicious vehicles fleeing along suspected escape routes.
Preliminary investigation revealed that before the incident, Chatchawalya had driven from his residence in Yala town to inspect his rubber wood processing mill. Upon arrival, he parked and walked toward the office building when a single gunshot rang out, the bullet piercing through his left shirt pocket and striking his chest with precision. He collapsed immediately. The shooter fled, believed to have ambushed from banana trees across the road from the mill.
The rubber wood processing facility had previously experienced multiple incidents: on August 8, 2016, more than 10 gunmen raided the mill, torched the wood-drying oven and a 10-wheel truck, causing severe damage. On March 22, 2024, arsonists set fire to the office building, destroying nearly the entire structure. On May 10, 2026, gunmen ambushed an 18-wheel truck near Ban Ngao Kapo, Moo 3, Bannang Sata Subdistrict, damaging the vehicle.
Police are conducting a thorough investigation and have not ruled out any motive, including security-related tensions in the area or personal business disputes, while pursuing leads to arrest the shooter and proceed with legal action.
