Bangkok — A 39-year-old British man was killed in his Porsche sedan in the Thai resort town of Pattaya on Tuesday by a gunman who pulled open the door and shot him at point-blank range, police said.
Police Colonel Jirawut Tantasri identified the victim as Tony Kenway. He said Kenway lived in Thailand for seven years and worked in the computer field. Police have not identified the shooter or the motive in the killing.
Pattaya is a popular beachside resort town about two hours' drive from Bangkok with a reputation as a sin city rife with corruption and prostitution. It attracts a significant number of Western residents, including organized crime figures from several nations.
Although police identified Kenway as British, his Facebook page says he is from Marbella, Spain.
Surveillance video copied by Thai media showed Kenway walking across the parking area of a sports club to his red Porsche Cayenne GTS as a person who had been standing nearby approaches from a different direction. Immediately after Kenway gets in and shuts the door, the assailant pulls it back open and leans in, apparently shooting his victim in the head, though the action is not distinctly visible in the video. The gunman then runs to a road just outside the parking area where a motorcycle drives up and whisks him away.
The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that Kenway's Thai wife told police that her husband had set up a website design company and was involved in a business dispute, though she did not know if that was the motive for the killing.