TAK - A man high on methamphetamine hacked his elderly father to death with a meat cleaver, police said on Monday.
Police said they responded to a call on Monday and found 65-year-old Kong Khampiro suffering inside a house in Tak's Ban Tak district with deep wounds on his head, back and both arms.
His attacker, Khamwan Khampiro, one of Kong's sons, was hiding in the house and was quickly apprehended.
He appeared to be disoriented and told investigators that he killed in self-defence because he believed his father was going to shoot him.
Khamwan's mother, Nongkran Khampiro, 50, said her son is a meth addict and often hallucinated under the drug, usually thinking that someone is trying to kill him.
The mother said her son had attacked his father twice in the past.
Prior to the attack Khamwan was deluded, she said, believing that his own father was planning to shoot him. He then grabbed a meat cleaver from the kitchen and attacked him, repeatedly hacking at his father despite pleas to stop.
Neighbours took the victim to hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
In Samut Sakhon province, a four-year-old boy was beaten to death by his stepfather.
The victim's eight-year-old brother said he saw his stepfather, Parinya Thongkaew, tie his brother's hands and repeatedly beat him with a table leg. The man also smacked and stomped the boy.
The older brother said his stepfather threatened to do the same to him if he told anyone about it.
The boy's mother, Panawadee Thongkaew, said she took her two boys to live with Mr Parinya, her new husband, after she divorced with another man, Mr Nattapong, in April.
The mother said she always left her boys with their stepfather whenever she went outside her home.
However, a few days ago she returned home and saw bruises on her younger son's body. The stepfather told her that the boy had fallen down the stairs.
The following day, she was called home by the stepfather to take the boy to the hospital because the boy was having convulsions. The boy later passed away at the hospital.
The boys' parents reported their son's death to the police on Monday through the Paveena Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women.
Police said they are seeking a court warrant to arrest the man for assault causing death.