Feeling the squeeze
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| Boonrit Thapchalerm |
Tha Sai police in Nonthaburi last week nabbed Boonrit Thapchalerm, 40, for the Dec 15 murder of Sumet Samniangwan, 36.
Mr Boonrit had fled to Surat Thani after the killing where police caught up with him after hearing he had gone to ground there.
Sumet had turned up at the house Mr Boonrit shares with his partner, Sirinya Poolsathien, 27, and their young child, demanding she keep up his repayments on a 13,000 baht loan.
Ms Sirinya, a fruit trader, borrowed 13,000 baht from the victim, and was repaying it at the extortionate rate of 700 baht a day.
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| Scene of the fatality |
“I developed mammary cysts and needed an operation, so I asked if I could put repayments on hold, but Sumet refused,” she told the media.
He turned up outside her house and started shouting at her. Ms Sirinya, who said she was at home alone caring for their young child, was too scared to go outside to confront him, so called her partner Mr Boonrit.
He turned up in his Isuzu, saw Sumet sitting on his motorcycle, and charged at the vehicle, smashing its occupant against a power pole.
Witnesses say Mr Boonrit then fled on a motorcycle taxi, though when his partner called him later he explained what he had done.
Mr Boonrit said he was worried Sumet had turned up with a weapon, so decided to disable the threat. “I also felt angry on behalf of my partner, who had been struggling with the repayments,” he told police after his arrest. Police charged him with premeditated murder.
Just a friendly knife fight
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| Chanjira Thamna (left) and Pa Porn |
The couple insist they still love each other despite their fondness for getting into fights. However, police are sick of being called out to their home so have decided to take action even if the couple agree to bury the hatchet, so to speak.
Phimai police in Nakhon Ratchasima last week were called to the home of Chanjira Thamna, 53, after she stabbed her husband, Thamrong Termkhunthot, 51. The two started arguing while having a few drinks.
This is the second time in a month the two have argued and Ms Chanjira responded by stabbing her husband. The first time, on Dec 16, Ms Chanjira and her husband were once again drinking together and started to argue.
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| Thamrong Termkhunthot |
“I didn’t think he would suffer such injuries and was stabbing him just for fun. The fight stemmed from my husband’s jealousy, after another man joined us for drinks,” she told reporters.
After her husband was released from hospital, the couple declared they had settled the matter, and in fact loved each other more than ever. They exchanged cheek kisses for the benefit of the media.
Fast forward to Jan 8, and the couple started to argue again while having a few drinks. Once again, Ms Chanjira reached for the kitchen knife and stabbed her husband, cutting him in the hand and about the face.
She emerged unscathed, though she claimed that he actually came at her with the knife first, but she wrested it away and stabbed him in self-defence.
When rescue workers arrived they found Mr Thamrong lying in front of his house, moaning, and Ms Chanjira waiting for them. He was taken to hospital, where he needed 10 stitches.
“My husband was talking nonsense. I stabbed him because he refuses to listen. He changes when he’s had a few drinks,” she said.
This time, even if the couple make up afterwards, police say they intend to charge Ms Chanjira with assault causing injury, in the hope of deterring such “friendly” fights again.
However, they may have no need for such gestures, as Mr Thamrong has had enough of his wife.
On Jan 9, when she took him to hospital to get his wounds cleaned, she also took along for company a male admirer called Pa Porn.
Ms Chanjira says Pa Porn is merely a long-term friend who pops up to offer consoling words whenever she and her husband have difficulties.
Mr Thamrong, however, believes their relationship goes deeper and told his wife that he would take their kids and move back to his family home in the province’s Dankhunthod district.
“If I stay with her and we argue, she will stab me again for sure, so I think I should leave,” he told reporters.
“I still love my wife and feel sad to see her with someone new, but I have to let her get on with it,” he said.
Teen avengers slip up
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| Chukiart Waenkrut after being attacked with the axe. |
An Udon Thani teen who attacked a local man with an axe admits it was a case of mistaken identity and asked for his forgiveness.
“A”, 15, was one of four youngsters nabbed by Kut Chap police for the Jan 8 attack which left victim Chukiart Waenkrut, 24, needing an operation to get the axe removed from his right ankle.
A says he plunged the axe into the man’s leg after mistaking him for a rival teen with whom he and his gang had problems the night before at a mor lum concert.
“Phum, one of my friends, was attacked and left with a split head. My mates and I were angry so decided to lie in wait outside Nonmuang village and retaliate when they came along,” he told police.
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| The weapon |
The victim’s elder sister, Suphannee Thong-un, 35, said Mr Chukiart was escorting his wife to work at a local school at 5am. Each goes on their own motorbike for the brief journey.
“When he drops her off, he heads back home to look after their 5-month-old child. On the day of the attack he was following his wife when he came upon a group of 5-7 teens, who had parked on a gravel road close to a rubber plantation.
“My brother passed his wife on his bike when one teen threw an axe at him. It hit him in the ankle. He stopped and alerted rescuers, who sent him to the district hospital where they cut out the axe. Later they sent him to a base hospital for an operation,” she said.
“These teens are a social menace and it was a brutal thing to do,” she added.
Reporters spoke to Wantha Lawong, 56, owner of a nearby mushroom factory.
She saw the teens parked opposite, waiting for their rivals to pass by. “I live in the area and have to be cautious, as they go back and forth often,” she said.
Police nabbed four members of the gang: two aged 15, including A; an 18-year-old man, and a 20-year-old man.
An apologetic A said he thought the victim was one of the teens who had caused trouble the night before. “I was also drunk. One of my mates called out saying I had attacked the wrong guy, but it was too late, I had already swung the axe,” he said.
A, who said he carries the axe for self-protection, fled home after the attack, where police arrested him. Police charged the gang with jointly assaulting the victim causing serious injury.
“When he drops her off, he heads back home to look after their 5-month-old child. On the day of the attack he was following his wife when he came upon a group of 5-7 teens, who had parked on a gravel road close to a rubber plantation.
“My brother passed his wife on his bike when one teen threw an axe at him. It hit him in the ankle. He stopped and alerted rescuers, who sent him to the district hospital where they cut out the axe. Later they sent him to a base hospital for an operation,” she said.
“These teens are a social menace and it was a brutal thing to do,” she added.
Reporters spoke to Wantha Lawong, 56, owner of a nearby mushroom factory.
She saw the teens parked opposite, waiting for their rivals to pass by. “I live in the area and have to be cautious, as they go back and forth often,” she said.
Police nabbed four members of the gang: two aged 15, including A; an 18-year-old man, and a 20-year-old man.
An apologetic A said he thought the victim was one of the teens who had caused trouble the night before. “I was also drunk. One of my mates called out saying I had attacked the wrong guy, but it was too late, I had already swung the axe,” he said.
A, who said he carries the axe for self-protection, fled home after the attack, where police arrested him. Police charged the gang with jointly assaulting the victim causing serious injury.
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