When Kathu police officers and Kusoldham workers arrived to the scene, a house in Moo 7 village, on a hill near one of the island's main reservoirs, they found a shirtless and lifeless corpse lying on its backside, with a bullet wound on the chest below the right nipple.
A spent bullet cartridge was also found near the body, which was collected as evidence.
The victim, a large-framed male wearing only black shorts, was identified as Mr Wongduean Jaithong, 46, of Mukdahan, the watchman of a durian, rambutan, longan and mangosteen orchard belonging to a “Phuket entrepreneur”.
He was already dead when police arrived. Kusoldham rescuers collected the body for further forensic inspection.
Police have already identified a key suspect but have asked The Phuket News to withhold his name until an arrest has been made.
The suspect, a resident of Rawai, is thought to have had a dispute with the victim, who was “building a wall that blocked access to other people's orchards,” police said.