Pol Maj Gen Wisanu Muangpraesee, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 8, said on Friday that two of the five suspects are Malaysian nationals and the three others are Thai.
The Malaysians were named asHing Yan Siong and Teh Lai Chay, and the Thais as Thanyaporn Toe-int, Sakhorn Lisopha and Prakong Lisopha. Mr Sakhon and Mr Prakong are brothers and come from Songkhla province. They were the first two arrested.
Pol Maj Gen Wisanu said national police chief Adul Saengsingkaew instructed Provincial Police Region 8 to expedite the investigation as the case is sensitive, involving a royal family and ties between Thailand and Malaysia.
Two more suspects are still at large and are believed to be hiding in Malaysia, he said. Police suspect more than robbery in Malaysian crown prince case Somjai Sawad, girlfriend of Hing Yan Siong and owner of a car used by the suspects, told investigators that her husband's friend asked to borrow her car but did not know that it would be used during the attack.
Ms Somjai requested bail for her husband and asked police to release her impounded car. Police had yet to respond to her requests.
Sukanya Leesopha, Mr Sakhorn's wife, told police that Mr Prakong askedher husband to travel with him to the Millenium Resort Patong Hotel in Phuket. After arriving at the hotel, Mr Prakong and his brother met a Malaysian person who offered to pay them 10,000 baht to do.do a job.
They were paid 5,000 baht up front.
Mr Sakhorn's wife said the two then received a hotel room key card No 1627. When the brothers entered the room, they saw two Malaysian men already waiting in the room.
They concealed their faces, but her husband recognised their voices, she added. Moments later, a member of the royal guard of crown prince Tunku Annuar Sultan Badlishah entered the room and the Malaysian men started bashing him.
The woman said her husband and his brother were just standing in the room and did not attack the guard. The guard was able to break loose from his attackers, fled the room and called for help. The two Malaysian men then paid another 5,000 baht to the brothers and told them that their job was done and they could return home.
Mr Sakhorn's wife went to the police... station with a lawyer and requested bail for her husband, but police denied bail.
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