Blatant attack
Boonmee Klaisawat was injured after thugs assaulted her outside her condo.
A victim’s support group, Sai Mai Tong Rod, took Boonmee Klaisawat, 62, before the media last week after she was attacked at her condo in Bang Phlat district on June 23.
Three months later, she said, police have yet to make any arrests, and the gang which attacked her continues to taunt her.
The youngsters, who drink under the condo building most nights, accused her of bad-mouthing them. She denies it, and insists she does not know them.
A neighbour, unnamed in news reports, asked if it was not a misunderstanding. “They may have seen her grumbling to herself and thought it was aimed at them,” he told reporters.
Ms Boonmee said the saga started as she returned home for the day after packing up her som tam stall. She and her husband were returning goods to their room when she came across three young people aged 22-23 outside the lift below.
As she entered the lift, one member of the gang, a tomboy with a bottle of beer clutched under one arm, got in with her and accused her of abusing them. Shocked, she denied it, but the tom gave her a shove and got out on the third floor.
Auntie Boonmee, as she was called in news reports, reached her room on the seventh floor and told her husband what happened. He took her downstairs again to clear the air politely with the gang, but the youngsters, drunk and belligerent, weren’t having it.
One member called his mates to boost their numbers for the coming confrontation, while another headed to his motorcycle to retrieve from under the seat what Auntie Boonmee suspected was a weapon.
However, the condo security guard broke it up, and Auntie Boonmee returned to her room.
Shortly after, the three gang members turned up outside her room, and in brutal scenes captured by a CCTV camera, attacked her.
They grabbed by the hair, yanked her head and forced her to the ground. Then they started kicking and hitting as she lay in front of the room.
As she asked her husband to call the police, the gang was unmoved: “Aren’t you the clever one. Go on, call. See if we care,” they retorted.
The attack left Auntie Boonmee with a split head, bruised arms, and extensive bruising over her body. News images pictured her looking worse for wear as she recovered in hospital.
The gang returned to the carpark under the condo after the attack, and still gather there today to drink with their mates as if the assault never happened.
“They see me and nudge each other, giving me the evil eye as if to taunt me,” she said of her current interactions with the gang.
A local who knows them said the gang was renowned for getting drunk and causing trouble. “They pick fights and chase people away with knives,” he said, while declining to be named.
Meanwhile, three months have passed since Auntie Boonmee complained to police, but no charges have been laid.
Ekkapop Luengprasert, from the support group, said the gang had broken the law on many counts, including trespassing on property at night, assault, and property damage.
“The police should get a move on, as they are entitled to take legal action immediately for such offences. Their inaction only emboldens the gang to carry on offending,” said Mr Ekkapop, also an adviser to the interior minister.
Bang Phlat police, who pleaded for time to do their work, said they were waiting to talk to the security guard.
Killer tries out water mains ruse
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| The scene at night outside the house where the attack occurred. |
A crazed Surat Thani man enmeshed in a custody dispute switched off the water to his former wife’s place and lured her family outside where he stabbed them.
Thanakorn Promrat, 32, is wanted by police after he allegedly stabbed to death the younger brother of his former wife, before turning the knife on the victim’s parents, who went out to investigate the commotion.
He also allegedly attacked his former wife, who was left with minor hand injuries after trying to wrest away his Sparta knife.
The action unfolded at the family’s single storey home in Phrasaeng district when Mr Thanakorn, who has been fighting his ex-wife Pornsiri (no surname given), 32, over custody of their young daughter, turned up with his knife and hid outside the house as he plotted his attack.
Pornsiri had just put their baby daughter to bed and was about to take a shower when she noticed the water was no longer running.
Her younger brother, Suthep, or Ting, 31, a teacher with a state school in Bang Na San district, stepped outside to investigate what had happened to the water main when Thanakorn, hiding in the shadows, allegedly lunged at him with the knife, stabbing him seven times. He died before reaching the hospital.
The victim’s parents were also attacked when they went outside to investigate. The victim’s mother, Jintana, 62, was stabbed in the arm, and his father, Suphon, 59, suffered a serious stab wound in the back as he tried to wrest the Sparta knife from the intruder. Pornsiri joined him, which is when she suffered her hand wound.
The man fled shortly after without his daughter, who was unharmed.
Both parents were admitted to hospital. Pornsiri said her ex-husband had threatened to harm the family previously. Bang Sawan police were gathering evidence before seeking an arrest warrant for the fugitive.
Missing cash claims backfire
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| A rescue worker standing on top of the submerged vehicle. |
A cheeky truck dealer in Udon Thani admitted making up a tale in which he claimed he lost millions of baht owed to a customer when his pickup plunged into a pond.
Thongchai Wongsuwan, 45, says he fell asleep of the wheel and plunged into Huay Kha Nang pond in Nong Chang district on Sept 14 with a truckload of cash which subsequently went missing, presumably submerged.
He was on an overnight journey from Nakhon Sawan, he said, on his way to return 4.5 million baht to a customer when the accident happened.
While Mr Thongchai was rescued from the vehicle and sent to hospital, he claimed later that he had lost most of the cash in the accident.
He was taking the cash in boxes to a customer who had hired him to sell two 10-wheeler trucks, he claimed.
Locals and rescue workers, who heard about the missing cash, plumbed about in the murky depths of the 3m-deep pond looking for the missing money, but were able to find just 520,000 baht in cash.
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| Thongchai Wongsuwan |
The owner, Sawitri Ruammaitri, 42, did not believe the story and asked the local temple to have the pond pumped.
The pump broke, which brought an early end to the salvage operation, but Nong Chang police, alerted to oddities in the driver’s claims, roped off the area as inquiries continued.
Ms Sawitri and Mr Thongchai, now back on his feet, met at the station on Sept 16.
Ms Sawitri came to pick up the 520,000 baht retrieved from the pond, and talk to Mr Thongchai about how he proposed to find the rest of the money he owed.
Ms Sawitri revealed that Mr Thongchai had come up with 2.1 million baht of the missing funds the day before. Added to the 520,00 baht retrieved the pond, that left 1.6 million baht outstanding.
Mr Thongchai, news reports said, admitted he had made up the story about losing most of the 4.2 million truck sale proceeds in the pond.
In fact, he was returning just the 520,000 baht found by locals when the accident occurred, having decided earlier to quietly keep the rest.
“I panicked but the accident was genuine. I did not stage it [to cover up the theft of the money], as I would not put my own safety at risk to that extent,” he told reporters.
Ms Sawitri said she wanted the repentant Mr Thongchai to return the rest as a lump sum, not in monthly instalments of 50,000 baht as he proposed. Either that, or he should sell an item of equivalent value and reimburse her that way.
No word was to hand as to whether police intend pressing charges. The saga continues.
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