Condo thugs wreak havoc; fatal trap; pond crash hoax

Blatant attack

Boonmee Klaisawat was injured after thugs assaulted her outside her condo.

A som tam trader in Bangkok who was assaulted by a group of young people outside her condo is imploring police to get a move on with their probe.

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

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

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.

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.

Kidnap comedy; abject apology; that sinking feeling

Debt collectors do it better

Two members of the gang which kidnapped a woman in Udon Thani.

A woman in Udon Thani has emerged worse for wear after a gang kidnapped her for ransom in a bungled attempt to recover a 10-year-old loan taken out by her younger sister.

The gang took Sasithorn Singkhon or “Tim” (no surname given), 54, to a remote spot in a forest as they negotiated with her family for her release. However, police were able to track them down before any money changed hands.

Ms Tim, however, was beaten over the head with the butt of a gun, and later admitted to hospital with internal bleeding.

After tracing their location, Chai Wan police nabbed the kidnappers, a gang of four including the daughter and son-in-law of the woman who originally extended the 200,000 loan and later handed it over to her family to chase up.

Pannga or “Bud” (no surname given), 56, supposedly a former land agent, said she made 1.5 million baht in a property deal almost 10 years ago and decided to lend some of it to a husband and wife couple, Pichit, or “Thep” (no surname given), 48, and his wife Chabatip, 44.

Her husband knew them from their days selling sugar cane in the area. Media reports say Bud’s husband was later jailed for life for dealing in drugs, amid speculation the money lent to the couple may in fact be the proceeds of drug deals.

Grandma Daeng

Regardless, the couple barely bothered to make repayments, and Bud eventually lost interest in chasing up the loan.

She handed the loan over to her daughter and son-in-law, as they were short of money. If they could extract the money from the lenders, it was theirs to keep.

Unknown to her, however, the daughter Jirapreeya Pakphin, 36, and her husband, Banphot Ritmaha, 40, decided to kidnap debtor Chabatip’s elder sister, Ms Tim, to extract demand for repayment.

Ms Tim was not connected to the loan saga but would routinely look after Chabatip’s children so was known to the kidnappers.

Accompanied by two associates, they turned up last week in a pickup outside the house owned by Ms Tim’s mother, Grandma Daeng, 79.

They called Ms Tim over and abruptly bundled her into the truck.

Ms Tim was taken off to a remote spot as the gang negotiated with her startled mother for her release.

The kidnap plot was almost destined to fail, as Grandma Daeng has no money.

The gang, comprising Bud’s daughter, Jirapreeya, her husband, Banphot, and two of his associates, Ritchai Traithip, 31, and Payaow Motham, 42, called Grandma Daeng demanding 170,000 baht, the unpaid balance of the loan, to be delivered within the hour.

She complained she could not raise a sum that large, so they asked for an initial payment of 30,000 baht.

However, she didn’t have that kind of money either, so asked if she could take out a loan.

The gang changed tack and asked her to deliver her pickup to the front of Bud’s house instead, in return for which they would release their captive.

Grandma Daeng and her relatives, meanwhile, alerted police to the kidnap plot. They had her call the kidnappers so they could trace the call, which they pinned down to a forest in Wang Sam Mo district.

Police had Grandma Daeng’s relatives deliver the pickup to Bud’s house in Kumphawapi district as demanded.

Meanwhile, a team of 30 police rounded up the kidnappers in the forest after pinning down their location, and rescued their captive, Ms Tim. She was wearing a black eye after Bud’s daughter, Ms Jirapreeya, belted her with the butt of a gun.

Media reports said her condition was worse than appeared, as the head injury led to a build-up of blood inside her head. She was admitted to hospital where she is recovering.

Asked why she had attacked Ms Tim, Ms Jirapreeya said her family had chased up the money for years, to no avail. She hit Ms Tim out of anger after the victim abused her and her family, she said.

All four gang members admitted kidnapping the victim.

After being alerted to the kidnap plot, Chai Wan police invited in Grandma Daeng, at whose house the kidnapping occurred, and Bud, the lender, who said she knew nothing about the kidnap plot and agreed the gang had gone too far.

Debtor Mr Pichit, meanwhile, said he regrets what happened to Ms Tim, who was an innocent party to the saga. She helped raise his children for him and those of various relatives. He vowed to repay the debt, even if he was 10 years late.

Police charged the gang with kidnapping.

Doing the carpark crawl

A Nakhon Si Thammarat thief crawls across a car park out of contrition

A thief in Nakhon Si Thammarat put on a dramatic display of contrition after being caught stealing electric wiring from a local polytech.

News clips showed Wiriya, or “Ta” (no surname given), 25, crawling over the ground at Nakhon Si Thammarat Polytechnic College, which reported the theft.

He begged the deputy director and a teacher not to pursue legal action, without success.

As a group of men from the polytech stood around watching, Wiriya prostrated himself and crawled across a car park as he begged for his freedom. Contemplating his fate and the abject state in which he now found himself, news reports asked, “Why didn’t you think of this before?”

Wiriya, who burst into tears after police arrived, said he lives behind the polytech and decided to break in when security guards stepped away.

He stole electric wiring, which he burned down to expose the copper wiring beneath. He sold the copper wiring to local traders, but was caught.

Police, who charged him with theft, do not believe his claims to be a first-time offender, as the polytech had complained of having its electric wiring stolen before.

Oops, I can’t swim

Troops rescue a hasty drug dealer.

A drug dealer had to be rescued from a river where he jumped after soldiers turned up to search his place for drugs.

Dech (no surname given), 27, jumped into the river beside his place in Cho Po Ro sub-district of Kra Buri district, Ranong province, even though he can’t swim.

As the soldiers arrived, Dech was standing outside. When he saw them, he leapt in, apparently without fear for his life.

Dech started to struggle in the water moments after entering it. Soldiers from the 25th Infantry Brigade, on the lookout for drug dealers in the area, were forced to jump in after him to rescue their fleeing suspect.

News images showed the soldiers, part of a special operations unit, dragging him to the shore. Dech was soaked but otherwise no worse for wear.

Troops, who had heard the house was popular with local teens looking for a fix, later found 48 ya ba pills hidden in front of his motorbike.

Dech said he bought 50 pills from a dealer for 40 baht each. He took some himself but was selling the rest to local teens for 50 baht apiece.

He was sent to Pak Chan police in Kra Buri for further action.

Black duct tape thief; painful massage; pit of death

Setting a fashion trend

The robber wearing his disguise

A robber in Nakhon Si Thammarat wearing a comically bad disguise has struck at many shops and homes in the province in recent weeks, but has yet to be caught.

Jessada Pumkomol, 32, came forward with CCTV images of the eccentric thief after his mother’s minimart in Phrom Khiri district was robbed on July 24.

The thief has applied black duct tape to his eyebrows, under the nose and across his chin. This is his disguise of choice whenever he goes out on a job.

Since Mr Jessada posted the thief’s image on social media, other netizens have come forward with CCTV images of the man wearing the same disguise as he breaks into their homes and shops.

The man is described as 35–50 years old and smallish in height. He turned up bare-footed for the late-night robbery at Ms Pumkomol’s two-storey place. He gained access by climbing up the building and letting himself in through an unlocked window.

Mr Jessada said the thief used a steel plate from nearby and placed it against the wall to help him clamber up. He said two people were sleeping on the second storey when he made his late-night break-in, but heard nothing.

The thief took a smartphone, cash, brand-name bag, and a .38 calibre handgun.

The news media has run multiple images of the thief breaking into various spots. One news presenter even took to mimicking the disguise, placing black duct tape on his face as he read an item about the thief’s exploits while warning viewers not to be startled by his unusual appearance.

Mr Jessada said an offender wearing the same oddball disguise had broken into homes and shops in Phrom Khiri, Lan Saka, and Tha Sala districts, judging by the feedback he had received from netizens.

He is appealing to police to get a move on, as weeks have passed but the man has yet to be caught.

News reports said police had dusted the shop for fingerprints and examined CCTV footage. No news was to hand about whether they were any closer to making an arrest.

Massage with a kick

A masseuse stole more than 1.7 million baht from a client.

A man in Bangkok regrets striking up a relationship with a masseuse from a city salon after she stole more than 1.7 million baht of his savings via his phone.

Wittawat (no surname provided), 47, who runs a shop selling phones, contacted police after she stole the money in a series of cash transfers via a banking app.

He also contacted Ekkapop Luangprasert, founder of the “Sai Mai Tong Rod” group which helps victims of crime, to help spread word of his misfortune, as he suspects she was acting as part of an organised con.

Wittawat said the woman, identified as Lay (no surname given), gave him a massage at a shop in soi Wat Pho Maen off Narathiwat Road in Yannawa district early last month.

When the main massage was over, Lay offered a “special” massage on top. That was to mark the fateful start of their whirlwind romance in which the crafty Lay was able to siphon funds from his account in multiple transfers, even as he looked on.

Wittawat

“I was prepared to give her 5,500 baht in cash but she wanted a cash transfer, and asked me to take her home to the Ramkhamhaeng area.

“She asked me to transfer the money while we were in the car. I did so, but didn’t know she was watching me enter the password I use for my banking app,” he told reporters.

He said they kept in touch, with Lay inviting him to come for more massages, and together went out for meals.

“If I didn’t answer the phone she would turn up at my shop immediately. I thought she really liked me,” he said.

Each time they met, Lay made out she was jealous, and would ask to inspect his phone to make sure he wasn’t chatting to anyone else.

She used this ruse to quietly transfer money to her own account via his app, while taking care to switch off the SMS text warning which the app normally provides, and deleting copies of the transfer slips which were automatically stored to his phone.

In this manner, Lay was to steal money from under his nose. CCTV images aired in the media show her using his phone while visiting Wittawat at his shop.

“On Aug 15, she asked for 20,000 baht. I transferred it to her though this time I noticed she was staring at my phone as I made the transfer,” he said, adding she was no doubt trying to remember his password as he did so.

The next day she turned up at the shop and made out as if she was jealous, asking to check his phone again.

She used the app to transfer an initial 1,000 baht from his account as if testing the waters. After that, she transferred 49,999 baht another three times, choosing that sum so as to avoid the need to perform a face scan as part of the security measures required for cash transfers of 50,000 baht or more.

On Aug 19, she transferred money from his account another four times, 49,999 baht each time. On Aug 24, she stole from him six times, another 49,000 baht each time; on Aug 29, another five times; and on Aug 30, four times.

On Aug 31, she stole from him another 17 times, or a total of 725,997 that day, taking the total amount stolen to 1.788 million baht.

The next day, Wittawat discovered someone had transferred money from one of his accounts to another. “I was curious so I opened the bank app and had a look. I found a huge amount of money missing, and that she had been transferring it to her account.”

Wittawat alerted Hua Mak police and asked them to freeze her account. While Lay had been careful to switch off the SMS warnings, she mistakenly left a few transfer slips in his phone, which identified herself as the recipient.

“She has been in touch asking me not to take legal action but I want the police to take it as far as it goes, especially if I do not get my money back,” he said.

Mr Ekkapop said it looked like a professional job, as Lay was good at exploiting Wittawat’s vulnerable points.

“She messed up, because if she hadn’t stolen the money, he could have looked after her for the rest of her life,” he added. Police inquiries are continuing.

Bad place to die

The underground pit where a Si Sa Ket man met a grisly fate.

A man in Si Sa Ket met a grisly fate when he fell into an underground pit for producing charcoal.

Locals in Phor sub-district alerted Muang police after Winai (no surname given), 51, fell into the fiery pit he tended in the Ban Non Ngam community on Sept 2.

His arms and legs were burnt so badly they were no longer recognisable; his back and head were the only parts which locals could make out.

Police, who had to ask local firefighters to douse the pit before they could gain access to his body, reckon he had been dead for about two hours before he was found.

A friend of the victim’s, Suban (no surname given), said Winai had blood pressure and diabetes problems. The pair had been into the forest cutting wood together one time when the victim fainted; he took him to hospital.

“He is a hard worker who takes on casual jobs to help make ends meet when he is not making charcoal,” he said.

Winai would feed firewood he had fetched from the forest into the pit, measuring 2m wide, 2.5m long, about 1.2m deep, which is then burned down to create charcoal.

The charcoal is offered for sale at the market. “His death has saddened many. I went to see him at his pit that morning; we sat and had a chat,” he told reporters. He suspected Winai collapsed and fell in.

Nonglak (no surname given), 58, owner of the fire pit next to the victim’s, said she went to take a look at her pit about midday when she smelt the odour of human flesh burning.

“I was too scared to look myself, so I asked locals including my husband for help. That’s when we found him,” she said. Police sent his remains for an autopsy.

Tangled tale unravels; deadly decoy; one-man drug store

Can’t tell a straight story

Mong Soi Min, or Sun

A Myanmar man accused of murdering a taxi driver in Samut Prakan discarded his earlier tangled testimony claiming the victim was tied up in drugs and now admits he killed him alone.

Bang Bua Thong police in Nonthaburi on Wednesday nabbed Mong Soi Min, or Sun, for killing Meechai Panchai, 63, whom he hired to take him from his rented place in the district to his mother’s place in Bang Phli of Samut Prakan.

Meechai’s body, found with his hands tied behind his back and his head bashed in, was found dumped in a fish pond near Ramathibodi Hospital in Samut Prakan.

The killer had covered Meechai’s body with bushes but it was found by a Myanmar worker who tends to the ponds shortly after he was killed.

Police followed CCTV images along the route, which helped lead them to their suspect at his run-down home. Sun had made no apparent attempt to flee, and even kept the victim’s phone and his own mud-stained clothes he wore at the scene.

He also drove Meechai’s taxi back to his place, parking it about 200m away from the house. Earlier, he made a failed attempt to extort 20,000 baht from Meechai’s family in return for sparing the old man’s life.

Sun, who has a drug problem, according to his mother, offered a tangle of conflicting testimony, initially blaming a mystery Myanmar drug dealer for the killing.

He said the dealer tagged along with him in Meechai’s taxi to deliver drugs in Samut Prakan’s Klong Dan area.

He claimed the drug dealer argued with Meechai over a debt, and threatened Meechai with a knife. They left the taxi and told Sun to drive back to Bang Bua Thong, which he says was the last he saw of them.

This would help explain Sun’s otherwise baffling decision to keep key pieces of incriminating evidence, such as the victim’s taxi and phone. Sun claimed he called random numbers on the victim’s contact list until Meechai’s daughter-in-law, identified as “Nang”, answered.

He asked someone to come and collect the taxi, he claimed, but no one was interested.

Nang, whose recollection of the call is very different, said the caller demanded a ransom of 20,000 baht if they wanted to see Meechai alive again.

However, the family didn’t believe the kidnap tale, so did nothing about it. The next day, they heard Meechai’s body had been found at the pond.

Police heard from a gas station attendant, who said Meechai turned up to fill his tank while en route. He saw only one other person in the cab, identified as Sun.

This suggested Sun’s claims about a mystery drug dealer were nonsense. Police stepped up questioning until Sun admitted on Wednesday night that he had committed the murder alone.

Sun said he was carrying tools from his old job as a construction worker, including a hammer, when Meechai picked him up. He used the hammer to bash in the victim’s head.

The two agreed on a fare of 2,000 baht, but Sun admitted during the ride that he didn’t have the money, and offered to pay in drugs instead. Meechai objected, and Sun is said to have robbed him. He also forced Meechai to take him to the fish pond where the victim was to lose his life. Sun said he knew the area as he worked there on a building site before losing his job. Police charged him with robbery leading to the victim’s death and disguising a body.

Coin machine mafia strikes

Natthapol (circled) being chased in the soi.

A Chon Buri woman is urging a fair probe into the death of her husband, slain in an attack by three thugs as he repaired a coin-operated water machine.

Chutikan (no surname given), 29, contacted the media concerning a probe by Nong Prue police of Bang Lamung district into the killing of her husband, Natthapol Chanpoom, 28.

The victim was called out to fix a water machine in Soi Map Yailea 34 by a mystery woman whom Chutikan believes was a decoy luring her husband to his death. CCTV images show a gang of men emerging from a spot nearby a building site to set upon him.

The images show the victim being chased to the mouth of soi, where he was attacked and died of impact wounds to his skull. Earlier, a friend who had taken him in his pickup to the job said he saw the men emerge, one of whom tried to block him from leaving, and smashed in his window with a spade.

Chutikan

“I parked nearby and waited for Natthapol to fix the machine. I had been there just a minute when the gang emerged,” Nonthawat (no surname given), or Tuey, 28, said. “After the man smashed my window, I fled in fear. When I returned an hour later, Natthapol was dead,” he said.

After Nonthawat’s pickup speeds from the scene, CCTV images show the second and third men following the first attacker, who has chased the victim towards the mouth of soi.
Five minutes later, the attackers walk back into the soi chatting as if nothing had happened.

Earlier, Chutikan said, a gang had threatened to take her husband’s life, claiming they had caught him stealing coins from the machines. The mystery accusers sent the pair a clip which, Chutikan said, simply showed her husband carrying out repairs, not stealing. The couple alerted police, but then Natthapol was killed.

The theft claim was to resurface again on the day of the attack, when rescue workers at the scene were told that Natthapol had been set upon by locals after they caught him prising open the machine. One man pulled him off his motorbike as he tried to flee, leading to his fatal injuries, it was claimed.

Chutikan said Nong Prue police initially tried to fob off Natthapol’s relatives with the same story, and it wasn’t until his family obtained CCTV images of the attack that they saw the claims were bogus. Police later revised their account. Weapons which the thugs were said to have used included a spade, baseball bat and golf club.

Nonthawat said he was present when the woman called his mate out to fix the machine. “He put it on speaker, so I heard everything. As we were heading there, she kept calling, trying to get us to hurry up,” he added.

Chutikan said her husband was the family’s main breadwinner. They have two young children. “He has been repairing machines for years, but recently decided to go out alone, serving customers directly. This may have upset his colleagues,” she said.

She claims his boss threatened to have him beaten up unless he stopped stealing from the company’s water machines. Natthapol had lost his job several days before, but his family dismisses claims of serial theft.

His wife said they were still looking for her husband’s phone, as it would contain the number of the person who lured him to the spot. A GPS tracking device sent its last signal from the scene of the attack.

While they are still awaiting the autopsy results, police say they are talking to various parties as they widen the probe.

Have EM device, will prosper

Police nab Wiset.

An electronic monitoring device worn by a suspect was no barrier to his conducting a lively drug trade, judging by an arrest in Phetchabun.

District and volunteer defence officials nabbed Wiset (no surname given), 38, as he was entering a house in Huai Sakae of Muang district. Earlier, the district chief heard a man was openly selling drugs in the area.

When Wiset saw the officials, he fled inside, locking himself in the bathroom. Officials coaxed him out after half an hour. An initial search showed he was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on his left leg — the type usually fitted to crime suspects on bail release.

News reports did not say what offence he had committed, but the device evidently posed no obstacle to his illicit trade, as the man was a virtual walking drug store. The initial search found 50 ya ba pills “on his person”. 

After taking him to the district office, officials found another 1,100 ya ba tablets hidden in his trousers, and an unspecified quantity of ya ice. They also found 11,000 baht in cash, wrapped in a bundle. Contemplating his fate, Wiset started crying. Officials sent him to Muang police for further action.

Protest hanging; family of thieves; drugs under wraps

Move out of the way, Mum

A policeman inspects the beam where the old woman allegedly hanged herself.

A druggie in Nonthaburi claims she did not see the body of her mother lying in their home even though she had been dead at least a day before worried neighbours sounded the alert.

Rattanathibet police found the bloated body of Sommai Taengnoo, 72, at her two-storey Bang Kraso sub-district home.

She was wearing shorts and a patterned shirt. The house showed no signs of a struggle, and her body no signs of foul play. A plastic chair was found overturned by her side, and a nylon rope around her neck.

News reports say a crude note was found in which the old woman supposedly wrote, “I cannot live with someone who takes drugs. I’d rather die.”

Her daughter, Famai, 47, claimed she did not notice her mother’s body lying at the foot of the stairs, right in front of the fridge, even though she would have to pass that spot to get outside. While Famai lived upstairs, she would have to use the stairs to come and go from the house.

Neighbours called her eldest daughter, Som, after realising they had not seen the old woman for hours. Normally she keeps the door open and has the TV going.

When Som turned up after neighbours sounded the alert, she found the door closed and TV off. When she asked Famai to open the door, she found their mother’s body and called the police.

Rope marks could be seen on a wooden beam above the stairs, where police say the old woman could have hanged herself before her body fell to the ground.

Yet they are not sold on the suicide theory, as Famai has a hisory of abusing her mother, according to neighbours, and had once stabbed her father, now dead of natural causes, and set fire to the house.

Som, the oldest daughter, believes Famai is connected to her mother’s death. Sommai, she said, had no reason to take her own life, as she was debt-free and seemed happy enough.

Yet Som admitted she had not seen her mother in almost a year, and seldom spoke to Famai either. She said Famai looked much thinner than she remembered, and wondered if it was because she takes drugs.

Famai, who is open about her five-year drug habit, said she normally takes them only on days off. Just before her mother’s death, she bought three ya ba pills for 100 baht. A urine test found traces of the drugs in her system.

Police, who have charged her initially with taking and possessing drugs, said she made little sense under questioning about her mother’s death.

Famai has her own theory as to why her mother would want to take her own life, and is annoyed that people around her have been “pressuring” her into admitting to dark deeds.

“I went out to get food and didn’t see her lying dead on the stairs on the way down,” she said, adding she has been looking after her mother for the past 20 years.

“I admit we have had problems; lately I have had no money to give my mother, who was worried about the power bill.”

Famai was working as a security guard at a store until the end of July, but left. “If I had no money to give her we would argue, but I didn’t hit her,” she said.

“I think Mum resented the fact I was not working and making a wage like everyone else. But people around me are trying to get me to admit to something I didn’t do.”

Police, who say inquiries are continuing, have sent the body for an autopsy.

Setting a good example

The pickup in which the family stole the motorbike.

A Phetchabun man caught a family stealing motorcycles to order, including his own, after a high-speed chase across town.

Somsak (no surname given), said he visited a market in Si Thep district last week, leaving his motorcycle unattended for five minutes. When he returned, he was stunned to see it was gone.

“After standing there dumbfounded for a moment, I realised it had been stolen but the thieves only had one exit to the main road,” he said.

He hurriedly borrowed a motorcycle from a friend and set off in pursuit down the soi.

Somsak spotted a Mitsubishi pickup with his motorcycle in the back close to a local petrol station. Traffic was heavy, so the pickup was forced to slow.

“As I pulled alongside on my friend’s motorbike, I kicked the side window, and swerved in front to block its path,” he said.

He found a family of thieves inside: a father, mother, a girl, aged 14, and her boyfriend, 18.

“I yanked the driver from his seat. Locals and I set upon the boy, who was wearing black and so scared he offered everyone a wai and wet himself,” he said.

“The kid claimed he had asthma, but I think that was just an excuse. I jumped on him, and kicked him in the ribs and other vital places,” he added.

Another one of the vehicle’s occupants ran off, but locals caught him. They held the thieves until police arrived.

Officers found 35 ya ba pills in the vehicle, along with a stash of vehicle registration plates and smartphones, no doubt belonging to past victims of their thievery.

They also found a long list of orders from would-be customers for stolen vehicles, and a knife.

Somsak, who fractured two fingers in the melee, has to wear a splint for two weeks as he recovers.

Chatree, or Tom, 36 (no surname given), who was among the locals who came to Somsak’s aid as they subdued the thieves, said one member of the gang claimed he was hired for 2,500 baht to steal Somsak’s bike and take it to a customer in Khok Samrong district, Lop Buri.

CCTV vision shows the mother and daughter walk over to Somsak’s bike in the market, wheel it to their pickup, and lift it into the back before the vehicle sped away.

Police are expanding their probe.

Keep those legs shut

Anusara found with a drug stash hidden in an unusual spot.

Police in Trat came across an unexpected stash of drugs when they searched a house known as a local hangout for teens.

Police and district officials raided a house in Bo Rai district where they found homeowners Anusara, 39, and her partner, Suppakit, 27 (no surnames given).

Officers say Anusara was counting 7.3 grammes of ya ice when they arrived. When they asked to search her, she refused, so district officials took over.

They found she was clenching a blue bag between her legs.

Rooting around, they found four bags of drugs concealed in her underwear, hidden by a sanitary pad. Each contained 200 ya ba pills.

Police searching the house found another bag with 113 pills in it, or a total of 913 pills, along with a gun.

Anusara said she was once married to a man who was caught for selling drugs and jailed. Later she took up with Suppakit, and they started selling ya ba and ya ice together.

Locals noticed teen customers coming and going from their house, which led to the raid.

“At first she wanted only Suppakit to admit to the drugs, but when officers found 800 pills in her underwear, she had to come around,” one news report said.

The woman has a 10-year-old daughter, who would now have to go into a relative’s care as she was likely to face jail time.