The Supreme Court has sentenced a former assistant professor to 13 years and six days in prison for killing a man who urinated in front of his home.
The sentence handed down to Santilak Thanyahar, 53, was announced by the court on Wednesday.
He was found guilty of murdering Suthan Ithitsurasing, 45, a food-cart vendor, who angered him by urinating into a canal.
He was initially sentenced to 18 years for murder and nine days for firing a gun in a public place, but with his confession his sentence was reduced to 13 years and six days.
Suthan was killed on March 30, 2006. He had left his niece’s birthday party and stopped to urinate into a canal in front of Santilak’s house.
A witness told the court Santilak fired two shots into the air as a warning, which led to a heated argument between the two men.
One of Suthan’s friends tried to intervene, but Santilak fired a shot at the victim, the witness said.
However, Santilak claimed the victim and a friend threatened him with a knife, so he brought out his gun. The victim and his friend tried to take the gun from his hand and the weapon accidently discharged.
Santilak was assistant professor of engineering at Chulalongkorn University.