Who is Mae Moo?

Sunday, 29 December 2024

Tenants from hell; doggie treats; thief comes cropper

Apartment fight turns deadly

The scene at the apartment

Two tenants who arranged a fatal beating of their apartment supervisor in Chon Buri claim he was about to attack them first.

Tenants Naphat, 36, and his partner Ratchayu, 46, (no surnames given) fled the scene of the horror beating in Bang Lamung district on Dec 30, leaving apartment supervisor Thaworn Watthana, 53, dead in the carpark.

Bang Lamung police, who called in the couple, say the pair called a gang of 10 or so supporters in two pickup trucks. The group attacked Thaworn for 10 minutes, leaving him with fatal head injuries, over an unpaid rent bill.

Thaworn had presented the couple, who moved in on Dec 10, with a bill for the full month’s rent of 2,600 baht.

Naphat, who signed the contract, said the owner agreed to give them the room for half the normal price, as they had been there less than a month. Thaworn, however, insisted they pay the full month and started abusing them when they objected, he claimed.

Ratchayu and Naphat called in by police
Thaworn, who is married with a young child, and supplements his income driving a vehicle for hire, was about to take three days leave over New Year to take his young son to see baby hippo Moo Deng. However, he died on the ground in front of the apartment at the hands of his own tenants.

A steel pipe was found nearby after the 10 arrivals fled the scene, to be followed shortly after by Naphat and Ratchayu.

CCTV images caught one gang member carrying a large pair of wire cutters, though he denied hitting Thaworn when called in by police. Another man was seen with a large knife.

The CCTV images show members of the gang milling about the scene, and Thaworn and his tenants arguing.

Thaworn’s wife, Prapai Watthana, 50, pleaded with the mob to spare her husband after the gang downed him with a punch.

She said that when they signed the contract they were told they’d be billed in full, but were determined to move in anyway.

After the pair objected to the bill, Thaworn said he’d call the apartment owner, and the two sides split up. He went out to repair a water pipe. Ratchayu left, then returned to the condo entrance to await the arrival of her friends.

“My husband asked me to get the contract, and by the time I returned she had summoned the gang,” Ms Prapai said.

She overheard Ratchayu claim her husband had abused the pair and asking her friends to beat him up.

Naphat and Ratchayu deny that version of events, though they admit their side started attacking Thaworn first.

However, Ratchayu claims he lunged at her and only changed his mind when her husband Naphat appeared.

Thaworn, she claimed, had called up a group of four or five of his own friends to attack the pair — a claim which TV news presenters dismissed as unlikely.

Her husband called on their friends to help because they feared for their safety, Ratchayu claimed. “I saw the victim fall to the ground but didn’t think he was dead. When I saw the news the next day I was shocked,” she said.

“We didn’t flee, but simply went to stay with friends. We had decided to pay his hospital bills if he needed care,” she said.

According to Naphat, the couple decided to move out when presented with the bill, so they merely asked their friends around to help gather their belongings.

“However, when they arrived an argument broke out. I had nothing to do with the attack and didn’t hit the guy,” he claimed. TV news cameras showed they left plenty of their stuff behind in their haste to leave.

Bang Lamung police insisted they took part in the beating themselves. “Two of the arrivals, called Ekk and Nu, attacked first, and during the commotion, Naphat joined the jam,” one investigator said. Police were rounding up the other attackers.

Police charged the couple with jointly attacking someone resulting in his death.

The pot was on the boil
Thanom wielded a knife and big stick to kill Panda

An elderly man in Chaiyaphum will lose the company of his three pet dogs after he killed a passing American Bully in the hope of turning him into a New Year’s treat.

Phu Khiao police nabbed Thanom (no surname given), 69, after he killed a local’s dog, Panda, when it wandered past his ramshackle place on Dec 29.

On his first journey past the house, Panda, who lives with his owner nearby, was walking behind a group of children from the local temple. However, when he walked back he was alone.

Thanom, who fancied the look of him because he was fatter than the stray dogs he normally eats, grabbed him and cut his throat. The dog struggled and freed himself from the man’s grasp.

His owner, Charoon Charoenkhun, 62, who had headed out looking for her dog, found Panda lying injured by the side of the road. She took her pet to the vet, but he was unable to save the dog.
Panda
Ms Charoon marched to Thanom’s house and abused him for killing her dog. She said she suspected it was him, as he was known locally for killing dogs and eating them.

News reports say he was building a fire and putting a pot on the boil in which he hoped to cook Panda’s remains.

He planned a sizzling menu of tom khao, or black dog soup, which was apparently popular with the Hainan Chinese who settled in the district 100 years ago.

Describing his plans with a little too much relish, perhaps, the reports also said he planned a finger food dish of sun-dried dog meat, to go with his New Year drinks.

Talking to reporters, who remarked that Thanom seemed drunk, the old man said he usually eats dogs killed in road accidents, or strays which have died. In this case, he made the mistake of killing a dog which has an owner.

She contacted police, who liaised with Watchdog, the animal care group. At the group’s behest, Livestock Department officers paid the old man a visit and confiscated the three dogs he raises at his house to have them neutered.

They will also find the animals a new home, as they are worried for their safety if they stay with the suspect. Thanom was charged with cruelty to animals and damaging someone else’s property (the dog).

Novice thief comes off bike
Natthawut after coming off his bike

A snatch and grab thief in Bangkok met his comeuppance when he was hit by a motorcycle as he tried to make his getaway.

Bang Khen police nabbed Natthawut (no surname given), 25, for stealing a handbag carried by Bow (no surname given), 49.

She was about to get on her motorcycle after shopping at the Pla Khao fresh market when the thief struck.

Natthawut, who said he thought her handbag looked expensive and was bound to be carrying a bundle of cash and valuables, grabbed it from behind and raced off. However, he did not make it past the mouth of soi Phaholyothin 61 in Anusaowaree, where the robbery took place, when he was struck by an oncoming motorcycle.

The thief, who claims this was his first offence, was knocked off his bike and hit his head on the pavement with heavy loss of blood. Passers-by held him until police arrived. Police, who charged him with theft, said the bag contained just 200 baht. The theft victim was unhurt.

Sunday, 22 December 2024

Kitchen sink drama; fake cops take flight; pickup pill fun

Misery piled upon misfortune

Aor prostrates herself at Pong’s feet.

An Udon Thani man is facing the threat of eviction after an embarrassing drug-linked domestic dispute with his wife hit the news last week.

Pong (assumed name), 34, said his landlord had given him five days to move out, after tenants complained about a row between him and his wife, Aor (assumed name), 27.

On Dec 17, police from Na Kha station in Muang district responded to a call-out to the couple’s apartment. Quizzed about what happened, Pong admitted beating and kicking Aor after suspecting she had strayed.

The pair became unlikely minor celebrities after details of their domestic dispute hit the media. Pong, a welder at an aluminium factory, said he grew suspicious of his wife’s behaviour after she stopped responding to his romantic advances.

“She just wasn’t interested and when I asked about it, she kept evading me,” he told reporters. “I kept needling her and then started asking some tough questions as I knew she was lying.”

After he lashed out at her in frustration, Aor, a cleaner, admitted she had slept with a man while Pong was at work. 

“I have many men friends but the only one whose name I remember is Perl,” she said.
Pong


“Perl turned up at our place and I slept with him twice in return for some ketamine he brought with him,” she said.

Later, she wanted to quit seeing Perl and clear the air with her husband, but Pong found out first, she said.

Neighbours say the couple rarely argue, but the dispute triggered a complaint to police.

When officers turned up, landlord Itthiphon (no surname provided) 62, called out Pong and Aor to meet them. A repentant Aor admitted straying, and amid tears begged her husband’s forgiveness.

He had insisted that she tell her parents about it. That was too humiliating a prospect, so she asked for a second chance.

In the presence of the media, she bowed and prostrated herself at her husband’s feet. She also swore to keep away from other men and avoid drugs.

Pong’s anger softened. For his part, he vowed not to hit his wife again, and said if he did, she should feel free to file a police complaint.

Police said that with neither side willing to lay a complaint, they could not proceed with the matter. They left the couple exchanging kisses and touchingly vowing to start afresh.

The next day reporters dropped in again after hearing things had taken an unhappy turn in the couple’s kitchen sink drama.

Pong said while his wife was willing to forgive, his landlord had been less accommodating. He had given the pair five days to move out.

He was upset that Pong and Aor had caused a disturbance. He was also aware, thanks to the publicity, that Aor had been messing with drugs.

Pong, who opened up to reporters about the couple’s life together, said he met Aor while working in Cambodia. They had been together six months but had already been through plenty of ups and downs together.

“We have been through some good times and times when we had nowhere to sleep and had to drag suitcases through the rain,” he said.

After returning to Thailand they moved to Aor’s hometown in Nakhon Pathom, but he found it hard to settle there. Later they moved to his home province of Udon Thani, where he found work with the aluminium factory paying 300 baht a day.

His boss was kind and helped him whenever he ran short of money. His landlord, another good man, let him move in without a deposit.

The landlord and neighbours alike helped out Pong and Aor with food, household goods and cash when they ran short.

A chest-fallen Pong said he and his wife hoped to settle in Udon Thani but if he was forced to move was not sure where they would end up. “I haven’t looked for a new place yet as I don’t have money for a deposit and hope relatives can help.

“But if they can’t, I might be forced to give up my job and move to Bangkok where I have a rented place," he said.

Pong’s childhood in the province was unhappy if not atypical. His grandparents raised him as a young child after his parents broke up. When he reached Matthayom 5, he moved to stay with his mother in Bangkok.

Before meeting Aor, he had married a woman and they had a child, but thanks to a “wild youth” had lost the confidence of both, he said.

Referring to the couple’s spat, he said: “I feel bad for putting everything at risk, and regret what happened. I was bad in the past and lost my wife and child; I don’t want it to happen again. I hope the landlord can give me a second chance.”

A neighbour who intervened on the day of their row backed him up, urging him to talk to the landlord again.

“I want him to ask for a second chance, and think he will probably succeed. He has yet to pay a deposit but the landlord lets him stay anyway.

“He should promise not to do it again, as a young child lives in the room next to his, and cries easily when there is a noise.” The saga continues.

Smile, you’re on camera
The imposter police car

Police in Buri Ram are looking for four men who impersonated police in a house raid and made off with five phones.

The men broke into a house in Lamplaimat district about 6pm on Dec 16, claiming to be officers from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board based in Nakhon Ratchasima.

They turned up in a pickup and entered through the back door, which itself was unusual, said owner Niphon (no surname given), 33, a pork trader.

They did not present a warrant but claimed they were there to search for drugs. “They also asked for my younger brother, Nithi, who wasn’t at home,” he said.

Niphon, his mother, and a friend of his younger brother’s were there when the men burst in. The gang herded them into a bedroom and cuffed the men, news reports said.

The visitors were wearing police ID cards but barely spoke in the 20 minutes they were there, except in whispers, Niphon said.

They took five phones belonging to the occupants, ostensibly to stop them contacting anyone during the raid. They also searched the place, turning up nothing.

Niphon said his younger brother called about 10 minutes into the saga, and another 10 minutes later, police arrived with flashing lights at the house.

Nithi, he said, was quietly watching them via a CCTV in the bedroom via his phone. He noticed the house’s occupants had been herded into the bedroom and the men were wearing cuffs.

Realising something was amiss, he alerted police, who turned up promptly, though unlike the gang made a conventional entry through the front.

Their arrival startled the gang, who hurriedly stripped SIM cards from the phones and took the devices with them as they fled through the back.

Police, who agreed the visitors bearing police ID were unlikely to be the real thing, are looking for the men.

Too high to drive
Police find Pittaya and amil’s drug gear in their vehicle.

A songthaew driver in Pathum Thani was driving well under the speed limit, arousing police suspicions the driver may be lost.

Traffic police on Kanchanapisek Road in Klong Luang district called over the vehicle to see if they could offer assistance, and were in for a surprise.

The two men inside were actually having a small ya ba party, and no doubt didn’t want to be disturbed.

They were driving slowly because they were too busy taking pills. In fact, they had already downed three to five pills each, they admitted later, so may have been feeling the effects.

The occupants, identified as Pittaya, 31, and Ramil, 28 (no surnames given) tried to disguise their drug-taking gear in a hurry but were still behaving strangely when they pulled over.

Their suspicious antics persuaded officers to to ask for a search, which turned up drug paraphernalia and a stash of 440 ya ba pills. The men said they had bought the pills from an agent for 15 baht a tablet.

Police charged them with possession with intent to supply, and taking drugs while in charge of a motor vehicle. They were sent to Klong Luang station for further processing.

Sunday, 15 December 2024

Karaoke bill kill; beaten student gets help; obsessive fan

He wouldn’t go halves

Jirawan Empin and Samrit Maisonthi (man in black vest).

A Kamphaeng Phet couple brutally murdered a man after a dispute over a karaoke bill, before robbing his home to pay for their escape.

Samrit Maisonthi, 58, and his wife Jirawan Empin, 32, murdered their friend, Udom Khunphiluek, 60, after he refused to help them pay the 1,430 baht bill at a karaoke shop in Klong Klung district on Dec 5.

Police caught the couple two days later in Uthai Thani, as they were fleeing the law on their way to Chainat province. Reports say they were bickering and drunk.

They admitted to killing the victim, whose body was found with more than 20 stab wounds, floating in a farm canal close to the shop.

Ms Jirawan said her husband held the victim in an arm lock while she beat him over the head with a motorcycle helmet and bottle to subdue him, before stabbing him with a fruit knife.

Some reports say Ms Jirawan used to work at the karaoke shop and met Udom there. They slept together and later became friends. On the night he was to lose his life, both sides claimed not to have enough money to pay the bill.

Shop owner Anong Noonai said the victim turned up at 8.30pm and drank alone until the couple joined him at 10pm.

“When the alcohol ran out I told Udom to go home, as it was late. The couple slipped out, as they didn’t want to pay. They were lurking behind the shop,” she said.

Some reports said the couple were angry that Udom wasn’t willing to go halves, but insisted on paying just a third. Udom, the couple said, was a friend so should be willing to split the bill evenly, the reports said.

Other reports, however, suggested the dispute was triggered partly by the owner’s insistence that Udom, a friend, not to have to pay at all. “I followed the couple out the back and asked the couple to foot the bill themselves. As for Udom, he was exempt, as we are close,” she said.

“The couple, however, claimed the victim would pay for them. I said no, as he wasn’t the owner of the shop (so it was not his decision).”

They refused, so she asked Udom to go with the couple to his father’s place to fetch the money. The couple evidently decided en route to kill and rob Udom rather than pay the bill.

After disposing of Udom’s body on farmland in the district, they later went to his place where they stole three Buddha amulets and a ceremonial sword to help pay for their escape. They raised 500 baht.

Later, they pawned his motorcycle in Nakhon Sawan for 2,000 baht. Police charged the couple jointly with murder and theft.

Beating has its upside
Thada 'Peck' Wantha is sitting in the park.

A Surat Thani lad has been overwhelmed with help since his plight as a destitute student fortuitously came to light following an assault by a gang of 11 youngsters in a public park.

Thada “Peck” Wantha, 16, was attacked and robbed by the gang, whose ages ranged from 12 to 17, when he fell asleep while charging his phone.

Peck was assaulted in a park in Bang Kung, Muang district on Dec 9. He was pictured in the media covered in bruises and his clothes torn. Reports say a split lip sustained in the attack needed three stitches.

The gang stole 800 baht from him, with which he hoped to get the power reconnected to his home, after it was cut in May. Peck, who was hopelessly outnumbered, said he was forced to flee after the boys started kicking and beating him.

Police rounded up the teens, some of whom ironically came from homes much better off than Peck’s.
The teen suspects at the station.


Peck, who studies at Surat Thani Vocational Education College, lives alone after his mother died two years ago. His father moved to Koh Phangan in search of construction work to support them. He sends money home when he can.

However, Peck was struggling to feed himself regularly, never mind catering to his other needs, and seldom asks others for help.

Peck said he was forced to charge his phone in the park after the power was cut to his home. He would do his homework there in semi-darkness but tell no one.

His father had sold off most of their household possessions. When reporters visited his home, they found the place in darkness. The family’s rice cooker was broken.

“He could not afford to get his clothes washed so would brush them off and go back to school. He is a good student who loves studies,” Amarin TV, which followed the saga, told viewers.

His plight has since improved, with friends, relatives and even strangers coming forward with offers of help since news of the attack hit the media.

Amarin TV said it received many inquiries from viewers asking about the boy. The day following the initial publicity, a reporter took the boy to an appliance store, which replaced his rice cooker for free. He also bought Peck a pair of shoes for him and his Dad.

His school also stepped forward with offers of help, along with friends and neighbours. They publicised his bank account details. By Wednesday, the power and water had been reconnected to his home.

His father, Santi, returned from Koh Phangan when he heard about the attack. He will look for work closer to home so he and his son can be together.

Peck said the gang he met in the park had asked for 20 baht, but decided to attack him. Rounding up the offenders, police called their parents into the station.

When reporters visited Muang police, they found parents upset to hear their sons were involved. Only two of the group confessed, reports say.

One younger boy said he held back as he watched his friends beat Peck, as he thought 11 against one was unfair. “My parents give me 100 baht a day, so I don’t need money,” he said, offering another reason he decided not to join the fray.

One of the older boys, sounding far from repentant, warned Peck through the media not to embellish. “Don’t ever-egg it or you can look forward to another beating,” he growled.

No word was to hand on what charges the gang will face.

Dogged fan tracks down prey
The crazed woman at B's front door.

A city singer who started seeing an obsessive fan on the sly has come forward to back his wife’s claims that his secret admirer, angry to discover she had a rival, assaulted her.

“B”, 26, and his wife “Nan”, 28, contacted Ekkapop Luangprasert, founder of the Sai Mai Tong Rod Facebook page, who helps victims of crime. They were worried their complaint to Lat Phrao police about the attack would not be enough to deter her. Mr Ekkapop took them before the media to share their plight.

Nan said she and her husband argued on Nov 29 and she took their young child to stay elsewhere. On Dec 3 he asked to make up with her, and turned up after work about 3am.

Ten minutes after he arrived, a woman she had never met turned up and tried to beat the door down. “I knew then that B had been seeing someone on the sly,” she said. “She demanded to know why he wasn’t answering her calls.

'B' and his wife 'Nan'
“We started to argue, so I picked up my phone and started filming. His fling headed straight for me and started hitting me, fleeing only when I told her that I am B’s lawfully wedded wife,” she said.

Nan, married to B for four years, called the police. She also headed out to follow her attacker. “I found her motorcycle at the mouth of the soi. In fact, she headed back to talk to B again, and attacked me a second time when I confronted her,” Nan said.

News images show bruising to her face, body, and a bloody eye. Police turned up and took the fling, unnamed in news reports, to the station.

B, lead singer in a band which plays city restaurants, said the woman asked for his Line details at one of his shows. They started seeing each other, though never slept together, he claimed.

“Lately I have been feeling sorry for our child so asked to sever ties with the woman, but she wouldn’t accept it,” he said. He had turned up to support his wife, as he is worried about her and feels guilty.

He asked a relative to intervene. “I asked her to talk to the woman on my behalf, as I can’t see her alone any more. She agreed to leave me alone, but I am not confident, if we meet again, that there won’t be another incident.”

Mr Ekkapop says Nan can sue the woman for civil damages, and police lay criminal charges. “This woman has gone over the top, wresting B away from his wife, and assaulting Nan as well,” he said. Police inquiries are continuing.

Sunday, 8 December 2024

Casual thief; random kill; pesky neighbour; headless end

Trying out his luck

Boon Wongsawang is arrested.

Police in Chon Buri did not have to look far to track down the thief who stole a gold ring from a gold shop at a Pattaya department store.

Pattaya police nabbed Boon Wongsawang, 29, at his girlfriend’s place in soi Krom Tee Din 2 of Bang Lamung district, about 700m from the scene of the crime.

Mr Boon stole the ring from a shop, unnamed in news reports, on Dec 2 to raise money to feed his online gambling and drug habits.

He made off with a ring of 1 baht gold weight worth 45,000 baht, which he sold later in Pattaya.

After committing his spur-of-the-moment robbery, he was pictured on CCTV running from the store, taking off a jacket, and hailing a motorcycle hire taxi.

He jumped off the bike in soi Krom Tee Din 2 to evade pursuing police but initially left the area rather than taking shelter with his girlfriend, who lives in the soi.

He opened a room in the Khao Mai Kaeo area as he waited for public interest in the robbery to fade, but locals recognised him from news reports, forcing him to flee to his girlfriend’s place, where police caught him on Dec 4.

Police had heard his girlfriend lived in soi Krom Tee Din 2, and turned up there. He gave up without a fight.

Speaking after his arrest, Mr Boon said he had been working as a security guard at a local hotel but lost his job.

“He was walking around with no particular destination in mind, and sleeping by the side of the road,” news reports said.

“He took a rest in front of a department store when he noticed a gold shop inside the entrance. Few people were about so he walked in pretending to be a customer interested in a gold ring.

“They showed him a ring and he decided to keep it. He said farewell to the staff (‘I’m off now, okay?’) and ran out the door,” they added.

Police say he sold the ring to buy ya ba pills, gamble on the internet, and buy a phone for his girlfriend.

He had previously sold some of her belongings to pay off a gambling debt and needed to make amends.

Pattaya police, who charged Mr Boon with theft, urged him to turn over a new leaf once he has served his punishment.

They also issued one of their regular pleas to pawn shops to take a good look at goods offered by customers and report any suspicious items to the law.

Just another victim
Chalongrat 'Ta' Kongosot

A city vagrant who has spent many years inside jail for violent offences admitted killing a man sleeping by the side of the road, but can’t say why he did it.

Don Muang and Metro Police Division 2 police nabbed Chalongrat “Ta” or “Pump” Kongosot, 36, close to Phaholyothin Rd in Thanyaburi district of Pathum Thani on Dec 2.

He admitted killing a man sleeping by the side of the road in the Kan Kheha skytrain area, where he normally sleeps, on Nov 28.

Chalongrat, who has served time for murder and assault, among other offences, said he was drunk and walking along the road randomly. CCTV caught him crossing a road barrier where he came across the sleeping man, who was not identified.

Chalongrat said he hit him over the head with a rock to knock him out, and tried to molest him sexually, but found he could not finish the job. He dragged him to the side of the road and tried again, once again with no luck.

“I was scared he would regain consciousness, so hit him with the rock again, I am not sure how many times,” he told police.

He left him there with his pants down, but covered the body with banana leaves to disguise it. However, a passerby noticed the body when it began to decompose.

After killing the man, Chalongrat went back to the skytrain station, where he came across a pensioner who gave him a free ride on the skytrain to Rangsit, when they split up.

“After that, I was selling old stuff to make ends meet when police nabbed me,” he said. Police had heard the suspect had taken shelter in the 200 Years Market area in Rangsit, and tracked him down there.

Chalongrat admitted he had never met the victim, and is not sure why he decided to take his life.

A check of his record found he has been in and out of prison for years.

In 2006, Chalongrat was jailed for killing one of his parents and freed 10 years later.

In 2017, he was jailed for jointly committing a robbery, assault causing serious injury, and unlawful detention. He was freed in 2021.

Then, two years ago, he was jailed for assault causing serious injury, and released at the end of last year. For his latest offence, police charged him with murder with intent, and disguising a body.

The man from over the way
Piyanid tried to have sex with his neighbour.

A woman in Chaiyaphum slapped an intruder in her bed when he tried to penetrate her in her sleep.

“B”, 33, complained to Sap Yai police when the man, Piyanid (no surname given), 26, her immediate neighbour, climbed into her bed and tried to have sex. Her husband was away at the time.

“My husband had gone out into the field to look for mice and had not yet returned, so I figured it was not him,” she told police. “I slapped the intruder in the face twice and called out for help.”

The intruder fled, but B said she knew who it was, and told police. Piyanid, who admitted the offence when police turned up, said he was drunk at the time, and would like to apologise to the victim.

When police arrived he was resting on a wooden bed in front of his house as if nothing had happened. “I was drinking at a friend’s house with 10 people and had a friend take me home. That’s when I decided to let myself into B’s place,” he said.

He had also taken ya ba pills five days before, which may have contributed to his recklessness. Police nabbed him for molesting her and illegal entry.

Gruesome discovery
The scene by the motorcycle at the side of the road.

An unfortunate motorcyclist in Surat Thani was hit with such force by a hit-and-run driver that his head was cut clean off.

Tha Chana police were looking for the driver who hit a motorcyclist in Prasong sub-district on Dec 4.

A badly damaged motorcycle was found by the side of the road. Ten metres down, police found the body, unidentified in news reports. They also found parts of the vehicle which hit him.

Five metres away, they found the motorcyclist’s head in the bushes. The impact of the collision took off his head.

Locals say the victim, 52, works at a rubber plantation about 2km from his home. They suspect he went out to buy some supplies and went past turnoff to his place.

He stopped his motorcycle and was about to turn around when the vehicle hit him. The driver fled the scene. Police, who are looking for the driver, sent the body for an autopsy.

Sunday, 1 December 2024

No good deed; polite thief strikes; body on roof saga

Fight over BMW repair bill

Prawet Jarubon (middle) inspects the smashed-up BMW.

The owner of a BMW who pawned his vehicle in Nonthaburi has gone to police after the garage which helped arrange the financing refused to pay a repair bill when it was later involved in an accident.

Prawet Jarubon, 55, who has gained notoriety in the media as the son of the last executioner at Bang Kwang prison, took the owner of the BMW 320i, a friend of his who was not identified, and who offered the car to him as surety for a loan, to see Bang Bua Thong police.

Mr Prawet said he and his mate took the car to be pawned for 40,000 baht in an arrangement stitched together by Chang Pol Service garage in August.

The garage head helped arrange the loan for the car’s owner after a mutual friend asked him to help. He called another mate, “B”, who introduced them to a man who provided the cash, and later picked up the vehicle.

The trouble started the following month when a staff member of B’s stole the car keys and took the car out for an unauthorised spin, hitting a pickup, news reports said.

The impact was so bad that both airbags deployed, news reports said. The accident, which occurred in the Bang Sri Muang area, left the front windscreen was smashed, the front of the car crushed, and one side badly dented.

The complainant said when he took the damage to be appraised, the insurer told him the repairs would cost almost 570,000 baht. However, the owner has insurance cover worth just 200,000 baht, which leaves a potential outstanding bill of 370,000 baht.

“I have been asking for the money since September, but the garage keeps saying I have to chase down the guy who crashed the car,” Mr Prawet said.

He claimed the garage did not tell him about the damage until he found out from someone else. He felt sorry for his friend, the BMW owner, who had tried to help him with the loan, but whose car had now been smashed up.

News images showed the vehicle laid up at another garage where it sits idle, as the two sides cannot reach an agreement.

The staff member was jailed three weeks ago on a drugs offence. He offered to pay what he can by instalment, but the owner, who wants a lump sum, rejected the offer, reports said.

Mr Prawet said he asked police to investigate the garage, which he claims charged 10 per cent a month for the loan. He said if the garage is still unwilling to accept responsibility, he would ask his lawyer to start a damages claim.

The tangled saga offers a salutary lesson in how Thais trying to help each other out of financial difficulty can themselves end up in grief.

Reporters spoke to “Chang Pol” (no surname given), 40, owner of the garage on Bang Kruai-Sai Noi Road in Bang Bua Thong district which helped arrange the financing.

He said he was drinking with a mate, “Somsak” (no surname given), in August, who had often helped him out in the past.

Somsak, he said, told him he knew a friend who had over-committed himself and wanted to pawn the BMW to raise some cash.

“I said I had no money either, so I called a friend, B. He introduced us to a man who sells old stuff. He had the money transferred, and later sent someone to pick up the vehicle,” he said.

“They reached an agreement as friends. Neither I nor Somsak lent any money; I merely contacted a friend on Somsak’s behalf.”

Chang Pol no doubt feels he has been unfairly blamed for his part in the saga. “I have learnt my lesson. I will think twice about offering to help anyone again,” he said.

However, he has still tried to do what he can. He claims the BMW was actually worth 300,000 baht. “The insurer will pay 200,000 baht, but the owner wants 500,000 baht. I own a garage, so I know how much it is worth,” he grumbled.

Chang Pol said CCTV showed the complainant turning up and abusing his staff after the accident. He also had a forklift turn up to take away the vehicle.

“I offered to take responsibility by repairing the car, but the owner wouldn’t agree,” he said. “I have spoken to all sides, and was happy to hand over money from the guy who smashed the car, but the problem is he doesn’t have a lump sum big enough.”

He had warned the staff member against taking the car out for a spin, as had Mr Prawet himself, to no avail.

Mr Prawet said he and the owner took the car to be pawned with Somsak and Chang Pol on Aug 23. He claimed he charged 10 per cent a month on the loan, which the pair dispute.

On Sept 18, he heard from Somsak that the car had been involved in an accident. “I had seen the car parked without its registration plates in Pak Kret, which was odd. The garage told me a staff member was driving it and had parked it there. However, they had warned him against taking it out,” he said.

Police were planning to call in those involved to see if the loan was in fact offered at extortionate rates.

At least he asked first
 The teen steals a bird cage.

Another case of a “polite thief” has emerged when a man in Nonthaburi asked permission to steal two bird cages.

CCTV images taken show the man eyeing two wooden bird cages at a store in Bang Bua Thong late on Nov 25 before taking them. “P, I will ask for this (if u don’t mind),” he calls out for the benefit of the CCTV camera before lifting the goods.

He turned up with a friend on a motorcycle to rob the store, where the cages were hanging out front as decorative items. When the two women who own the shop opened for business the next day, they noticed the items missing.

They took a look at their CCTV vision from the night before, which showed the young thief looking about furtively. He picked up and rejected an iron cage before settling on the two wooden equivalents.

His friend on the motorcycle is heard telling him to get a move on, which hastened his depature, but not before he asked for permission to steal.

The owners acknowledged the thief seemed a polite type, but alerted police anyway, as next time he could steal something bigger. “He also did it in flagrant disregard for the law, as he knew the shop has CCTV,” one owner said. Police were looking for the offender.

Another tale of a well-mannered thief emerged in Samut Sakhon last month. A gold shop thief took off his shoes before entering the store because a sign told him to do so.

Somlak Chanthongthae, 32, snatched two necklaces worth four baht in gold weight, or 171,600 baht from a shop in Muang district, near Wat Ketmadi Sriwararam.

Mr Somlak, described in news reports as a “well-mannered thief” for taking off his shoes, left his footwear behind in his haste to leave, police say. They caught him later the same day on an inter-provincial bus bound for Phichit.

As police took Mr Somlak back to the store for a crime reconstruction, he gave staff a wai by way of apology. “I took my shoes off at the door because ther sign told me to,” he said matter-of-factly.

Earlier, in May, a gold shop robber in Sakhon Nakhon distinguished himself with his good manners by giving staff a wai first, but nonetheless brought two guns.

Nopparat “Mo” Rompho, 22, robbed the Hang Thong Yaowarat Krungthep goldstore at Big C Mahachai 2 in Muang district. He took off on a motorcycle with five gold necklaces worth three baht weight in gold, but was caught three days later.

As he walked in, wearing a crash helmet over his head and the green livery of a delivery man to help disguise his identity, the young man gave staff a wai and said, “Please give me permission to rob you.”

That was an unusually polite opening for a robbery, and must have taken staff by surprise. It was to be followed by: “Please grab your necklaces worth three and five baht, and put them in the bag if you don’t want to get shot.” Mr Nopparat lifted up his shift to reveal two guns on his waist to show he meant business. “And please do it quickly, too,” he added.

Funnily enough, the gold thieves in both cases say they did the deed to raise money for their girlfriend’s hand in marriage.

Unusual car roof feature
The body on the car after police stopped the driver

A driver in Surin travelled for 30km with the body of a man on the roof of his sedan before being flagged over by police.

Tha Thum police stopped driver Teerapat Leeran, 46, after a good samaritan contacted Chom Phra station to say they had witnessed a vehicle travelling along the road with a body stuck on its roof.

The car was travelling on the Chom Phra-Tha Thum Road when police and rescue workers stopped it, 30km from where the driver hit a man crossing the road.

Mr Teerapat said he was driving in poor visibility but was aware he had hit someone. The victim was identified as Weerapong (no surname given), 46, in news reports.

Mr Teerapat, who evidently saw fit not to stop, said he was on his way to see relatives at hospital. He claimed he did not know Weerapong’s body landed on his roof, despite blood spatter trailing after his vehicle. Police took him in. No word was to hand on what charges he will face.