A sugar plantation owner who allegedly drunkenly shot dead a Cambodian worker in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province on Friday during an argument about another worker’s plans to leave with unpaid debts was yesterday arrested and sent to court, an official said.

Sar Ngy was shot in the chest by the plantation owner Lem Talandoeu, 53, who had left his own neighbouring plantation to visit a wedding ceremony at the farm at which Ngy worked, said Bun Sokvibol, Cambodia’s general-counsel for Sa Kaeo province.

Talandoeu had been angered by the prospect of Ngy’s brother and his fiancé, Thary – who was one of his employees – departing back to Cambodia before paying debts, and shot Ngy in an ensuing dispute, according to Thang Huon, the wife of the victim.

“The suspect came drunk in the night, he started to cause problems with my brother-in-law and pointed the gun to his head, saying that if you dare to bring Thary to Cambodia, I will shoot because she owes me money – about 10,000 baht [about $280],” Huon said. “When my husband interrupted, the suspect pointed the gun at him and shot his chest.”

Sokvibol said that Thai authorities had arrested Talandoeu at the urging of Cambodian officials, and that he was now awaiting further court processes.

Separately, 10 Thai security guards were yesterday also charged with “acts of violence” after attacking four Cambodian cart-pullers in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province on Friday, said Nou Pich, deputy head of border relations at the Doung border crossing.

“The security forces were sentenced . . . to a month’s jail and fined 15,000 baht [about $423] each”.