Mr Wisut’s wife, Jiraporn Hosakul, who was not hurt in the shooting, reported that the couple were waiting in their black Honda Jazz to come out of Soi Srisuchart onto Thepkrasattri Rd, near the Nissan showroom.
As they waited, a motorbike stopped in front of the car. The passenger on the bike fired four shots through the windscreen, hitting Mr Wisut in the chest, throat and right shoulder. The two on the bike then drove off.
An autopsy is to be carried out but a doctor at Vachira told waiting reporters that the most likely cause of death was loss of blood from the throat wound, which severed the carotid artery.
This afternoon police said they believed the shooting was carried out by professionals because of the tight grouping and accuracy of the shots that were fired through Mr Wisut's windscreen. Investigators recovered casings that showed the weapon used was a 9mm pistol.
They also said they suspected the killing might have been sparked by a land dispute, either over land next to Freedom Beach (see story here) or a “flying SorKor 1” case near Nakalay Beach. Mr Wisut had written about both cases, and was a leader of The Phuketians, a group of people opposing the private use of the Freedom Beach land.
They added that other cases about which he had written might possibly have brought on the shooting.
Police also announced this afternoon that Pol Lt Gen Santi Pensute, Commander of Police Region 8 would arrive in Phuket soon to take charge of the case.
Mr Wisut has long been a controversial figure, disliked by some for his confrontational style of questioning, but regarded by others as fearless.
He once described the fledgling International Business Association of Phuket (IBAP) as a club for foreign gangsters. On another occasion he was involved in a furious public slanging match with a corrupt vice-governor who had been extorting money from foreigners in exchange for work permits. The vice governor stormed out of the meeting.
He was also a leading figure in the Phuket Red Shirt community, and led a group of Phuket people to join the Red Shirt protests at Rajprasong in Bangkok in April 2010.