Six men sentenced to death in southern Thailand's massacre case

BANGKOK, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Six males were on Wednesday sentenced to death on charges of perpetrating last year's massacre in southern Thailand, police said.

Krabi Provincial Court ruled Surikfat Bannopwongsakul, 41, and five accomplices guilty of manslaughtering eight people, including children, at the house of the victims in Ao Luk district of Krabi province, about 780 km south of Bangkok, last July and delivered them the death penalty.

Surikfat and his men in camouflage clothing cold-bloodedly killed village headman Worayut Sanglang and the seven members of his family with the victim's handgun following an unsettled dispute over a costly land deal.

The murderers used Worayut's gun in a cover-up to make it look as if he had killed his own family members and committed suicide under extreme stress, the police said.

Two other accomplices, including a female, were sentenced to 21 months and 12 months in jail respectively.

Surikfat's lawyer has planned to refute the Krabi court's verdict in the Appeals Court at a later date. Enditem