Ghost fan turns thief; black market youths; bike romance con

Locked up, nowhere to go

Aesara wearing his mask and cape.

An unlucky young thief wearing a horror mask broke into a jewellery store after hours, but found all the gold locked up and his exit from the shop blocked.

Mae Ping police in Chiang Mai nabbed Aesara, or Ezra (surname withheld), 21 years old, from Nan province, after he broke into the Yaowarat gold store in a Muang district shopping mall.

Wearing a horror mask and a black cape, reminiscent of the film Scream, of which he is a fan, he prised open a steel rolling door at the front of the second-floor shop with a crowbar and climbed under the gap.

Earlier, CCTV cameras showed him emerging from the mall restroom after hours, fully kitted up as a ghost, and making his way eerily towards the gold store.

He hid in the restroom until the mall closed on the evening of March 17, and changed into his ghost gear before re-emerging to try his hand as a gold thief.

However, things didn’t go as planned when he discovered the owner had locked up the shop’s supply of gold when trade ended that night, so there was nothing for him to steal.

Worse, once he had broken in via the steel door at the front he found he could no longer get out. Bereft of an escape route, he was forced to spend the night rattling about a storage area at the rear of the shop, at one point discarding the mask and cape and donning what looked like a sheet to give himself warmth.

When staff arrived the next morning they noticed the door had been prised open and called police. Officers called out Aesara, who meekly re-appeared without the disguise, though in a two-hour crime reenactment later that day, oddly donned the ghost outfit again as he showed police what he had done.

Explaining why he decided to rob the store, Aesara said he was hard-up and wanted money to continue his education.

He wanted to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a public university in Chiang Mai, he said. He chose this mall because it was close to where he lived, and he wore the ghost mask because he liked horror movies and wanted to conceal his identity. The suspect expressed remorse and apologised to his parents for his impulsive decision to commit the crime.

Pol Col Yanaphol Pattanachai, head of Mae Ping police, said the suspect parked his motorcycle at a gas station in front of the mall before entering around 5pm on March 17.

The exit was blocked because the steel door was too close to the counter. The space was too narrow for him to go back and pry it open. He looked for an escape route at the back of the store but found none, which meant he had to spend the night there until he was caught.

Kratom juice to go with that?

A young man arrested in the factory full of illegal goods.

Police in Thon Buri district raided a warehouse where a group of enterprising young people were selling smuggled imported cigarettes and kratom juice mixed with cough medicine to local teens.

Central Investigation Bureau police raided a commercial building on soi Intharaphithak 3 in Bang Yi Rua sub-district where they discovered a large quantity of illegal goods, including 2,800 packs of smuggled cigarettes, 1,930 bottles of cough syrup, 30 bottles of kratom mixed with cough syrup, kratom leaves, and equipment used for boiling kratom.

Three suspects — Chulthap, 23, Kittisak, 22, and Thanathip, 20 (no surnames given) — were nabbed and charged under the Customs Act and Food Acts.

Police say the young people who rented the building were peddling the goods to local youth. The smuggled foreign cigarettes included brands such as Texas 5, Canyon, and Capital. It is unclear how they managed to evade customs duties.

They were also secretly producing kratom mixed with cough syrup, similar to a narcotic. The smuggled cigarettes were sold at prices lower than the market rate, while the kratom was sold for 80-100 baht per bottle. The business made an income of 7,000-8,000 baht per day, with around 40-50 young customers visiting on motorcycles to buy goods daily.

The suspects took measures to avoid detection by authorities, keeping the building closed at all times and only allowing sales through a small door, making it difficult for officials to catch them at it, reports said. Responding to locals’ complaints, police executed a search warrant obtained from the Thon Buri Criminal Court, arresting the suspects and seizing the goods.

Romance for a stolen bike

Thanatat shows Pannarai’s picture on his phone.

A conniving woman in Nonthaburi who befriends men on social media only to steal their motorbikes has struck again, with police evidently no closer to finding her.

Pitchakorn Khamtan, 24, filed a complaint with Bang Kruai police after being tricked by Pannarai “Jaa” Eamsaad, 23, who he met through a dating app.

She had borrowed his red Yamaha Grand Filano motorcycle on March 15, claiming she was going for a job interview.

She left with the bike at the Uea Aree apartment units on Nakhon In Road. After that, she disappeared and severed all contact. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.

The motorcycle had just been financed, causing problems for the victim. Police said they were on her trail, perhaps unaware that she had struck previously.

On Wednesday, a disabled man who saw the media reports about Mr Pitchakorn’s case came forward to say he had also fallen victim to Ms Pannarai’s scheming ways.

Thanatat (no surname given), 23, who is disabled in both hands, said he met Ms Pannarai via Facebook in early January. On Jan 20, Ms Pannarai, who referred to herself as Jii, tricked him into picking her up from work to go to her room. She stole his motorcycle while he was taking a shower, he said. After that, she disappeared, blocking all means of contact.

When he complained to the media, she contacted him via Facebook, demanding he withdraw his complaint before she would return the motorcycle. He agreed to the deal, and Ms Pannarai later left the motorcycle at a shopping mall in Pak Kret district. Reports said she cheekily asked her victim for 200 baht for a ride home.

After retrieving his motorcycle, Thanatat decided to proceed with legal action anyway. He had filed a complaint with Pak Kret police. As of now, there had been no update on the case’s progress, he said.

Thanatat said he was unhappy to see that Ms Pannarai had stolen from another victim, and urged police to track her down. He believes that if she is not apprehended, still more victims will emerge.

Fatal sink pile-up; forgetful druggie; say the magic word

That’s all it took

Pongsakorn was shot while having dinner at the kitchen table.

An argument over unwashed dishes prompted a Chiang Rai uncle to shoot his nephew dead.

Boonruang police in Chiang Khong district nabbed Wai (no surname given), 58, for fatally shooting Pongsakorn (no surname given), 41, as they were having a som tam salad at home. The victim liked to leave unwashed dishes piled up in the sink, which angered the older man and prompted the row.

Police found Pongsakorn on the lower floor of the two-storey concrete/wooden house. He had been shot in the right side of the face, and a homemade Thai gun was found nearby.

News reports said the two men were often at odds. Wutthikrai Chaiyai, head of Village 6 in Huai So subdistrict, said the two argued while having dinner, which escalated into a heated exchange. The offender took out his homemade gun and shot his nephew dead.

Villagers knew the men often quarrelled as they could hear them. About a month ago, the victim had also threatened his uncle with a gun, reports said.

After killing Pongsakorn, Wai went out to buy alcohol and went to see a friend at a rubber plantation about 3-4km away, as if nothing had happened.

However, no one was at the plantation, so he returned home and was caught by police.

Udon Moolwong, 50, the offender’s younger brother, said he was sitting at home about 10 metres away from the scene when he heard a shot ring out. Shortly after, he heard the sound of Wai’s motorcycle leaving.

He went to check and found his nephew lying face up, one hand still holding a spoon and the other holding a plate of papaya salad, with his left leg caught under the table. He told the village head, who called the police.

At Boonruang police station, reporters spoke to Wai, who admitted killing his nephew. They had argued several times over the nephew’s refusal to wash the dishes, and the victim had assaulted him multiple times, he complained. On the night of the incident, he also confronted him about an electricity bill.

The victim, he claimed, picked up a gun and came towards him, intending to shoot. A scuffle ensued and he later shot the victim, resulting in his death.

Mr Udon said the patriarch of the family would often intervene to stop the men arguing, but after he moved to Lampang, the arguments increased.

The victim was known to be addicted to drugs, while the perpetrator had a drinking problem, which worsened their fights.

At Kiang Tai temple, where the funeral was held, Somdet, 69, father of the victim, said his son and younger brother argued multiple times.

He had warned them, but neither listened.

Police charged Wai with murder.

Pill stash stored in wrong place

Uncle A and his drug stash, below left

Police in Nan were able to make two unexpected drug arrests in one swoop thanks to an old man’s poor memory.

Provincial police looking for drugs offenders rounded up Uncle A (no names given), 58, as he was heading out to feed his pigs.

He was a known target who happily admitted to using methamphetamines. However, they searched him and found nothing illegal.

Police handed him over to Nan district office staff for processing. They intended to offer him rehabilitation under a Ministry of Interior policy offering minor drug addicts the chance to enter detox rather than face charges.

However, uncle A discovered he had forgotten his ID card, so police took him back home. There, they came across another known drug offender, Mr B, 48, who had earlier fled an attempted arrest, leaving behind 80 methamphetamine pills.

The Nan Provincial Court had previously issued a warrant for Mr B’s arrest. Police noticed Mr B as he happened to walk past Uncle A’s house and nabbed him.

Admitting he was the person named in the warrant, Mr B said he had fled to work in another province and had returned just that morning.

After apprehending Mr B and retrieving Uncle A’s wallet, they took Uncle A back to the Nan district office.

Theeraporn Mankaeo, the district officer, was about to process Uncle A for treatment and again asked to see his ID documents.

Uncle A pulled out his wallet and took out his driver’s licence, but along with the licence, six meth pills in a zip-lock bag tumbled out.

That upped the sale of the offending, so Mr Theeraporn alerted police, who were to charge Uncle A with drug possession.

Unlucky Uncle A, who admitted he was addicted to meth, said he takes two pills each morning. He had hidden his remaining pill stash but could not remember where.

He had searched for half the day before heading out to feed his pigs when he encountered the police.

When the district officer asked to see his ID, he pulled it out, and the meth fell out with it. He then recalled that he had placed the meth in his wallet after using it for safekeeping. District staff handed him over to the police at Muang station for legal action.

Wife on the warpath

 The man who fell asleep at the wheel of his car for hours.

A pickup driver fell asleep at the lights in Nan, defying attempts by locals and rescue workers to wake him for more than an hour.

In another unusual tale from that province, news reports said a local contacted Muang police to say the pickup was idling in front of a red light with the driver, alone inside the cab, either in a deep sleep or perhaps unconscious.

The informant had seen the vehicle parked there since 11pm, and it hadn’t moved even when the light turned green. After going to eat noodles and returning, he found the truck was still at the same spot.

Upon closer inspection, he found the driver slumped over in his seat. Concerned about the possibility he might be incapacitated, locals had been trying to wake him for nearly an hour.

After getting word, police joined rescue workers, staff from Nan Hospital, and locals who had encircled the vehicle. They tried in vain to get the occupant to wake up.

The pickup truck was surrounded by locals who were shouting, knocking on the windows, and even jumping on the truck’s bed to shake it. Inside the cab, the driver, aged about 40, was still slumped over, oblivious.

The rescue party were discussing whether to break the window when a local with a bright idea of what might wake the man stepped forward.

The man approached and shouted into the vehicle, “Hey, wake up! Your wife sent me to bring you home!” The man immediately jolted awake and opened the car door. He looked confused about what was happening.

Police asked for his home address, when it transpired he had driven about 300 metres past his house, apparently without realising.

The driver said he had been helping with a relative’s funeral for several days and was on his way home to rest when he was stopped at the red light.

After that, he has no memory, and only realised what was happening when he heard his wife was looking for him. Police told him to get more rest and drove him back home.

Teen monster strikes; police out to lunch; in vice's grip

 School, parents duck for cover

Chalida 'Ton Ao' Palamat, and the mother of Nong 'A'.

A Saraburi teenager discovered the 14-year-old boy she was seeing was not all he seemed — a monster hiding beneath the veneer of a trusted friend.

The boy and five of his friends raped the girl after luring her to a local house on Feb 19, the girl’s mother, “B”, told reporters last week.

Activist Chalida Palamat, also known as Ton Ao, took the mother and the victim, Nong “A”, to see Nong Khae police to check on their probe.

They had yet to make any arrests, upsetting the girl’s mother. Worse, the boys’ schools and parents had shown little interest in taking responsibility.

On the day of the attack, Nong A had asked her grandmother if she could go out to buy snacks with friends.

After several hours passed without her return, the mother contacted her daughter’s friends, who were unaware of her whereabouts.

About 10pm, a boy brought her daughter back home, and her father asked where she had been.

Nong A initially refused to tell him, so her father hit her. She finally admitted that the boy who took her, whom she had been seeing for 2-3 months, had asked her to go for a ride on his bike.

She had been out with him before without any problems, so agreed to go again.

However, on this occasion the boy took her to a house where five other boys from different schools were present. They took turns raping her, the mother said.

The boy who took A there, she said, asked for sex first, and said if she objected he would refuse to take her home.

Frightened, she agreed. The boy then invited his five friends waiting in another room to rape her too. The boys were aged 12 to 15.

“The kids threatened her, saying if she told anyone they would kill her and her family,” Ton Ao said.

Her mother took A to complain to Nong Khae police. However, she said the case has made little progress.

Given the indifference she met when she contacted parents and schools involved, she was worried the case would slip between the cracks.

Ton Ao, who also took along officials from the Department of Children and Youth and the Social Development and Human Security Office in Saraburi to meet police, said she had contacted one of the schools concerned.

The school director claimed that as the attack occurred off school grounds, he would not get involved. The students also had not attended classes for a month.

Ton Ao, however, said the students were still enrolled at his school and the director should help the probe by providing information about the boys and contacting their parents, rather than shirking responsibility.

As for the parents, one told her that she should go to the police and get her son arrested herself.

Ton Ao said the parents should show more duty of care. “In some cases, parents can be legally responsible when their children offend and they have failed to exercise any supervision or control,” she added.

That afternoon, police investigators brought in two of the parents concerned for questioning, which took about an hour. Their three children, named as among the offenders, later took them to the house where the attack occurred.

A child and family welfare officer from Saraburi was also present at the station. She spoke to A, who is recovering.

If A wished to see a psychiatrist, she would arrange it. The province would also discuss providing compensation to the family, a human security officer from the regional office said, along with arrangements for her further education.

The case continues.

Turning a blind eye

 Police uncover the kratom juice bottling plant.

A Nonthaburi vendor making kratom juice and peddling e-cigarettes on an industrial scale was operating right under the noses of local police.

Provincial Police Division 1 last week raided a shop selling kratom and e-cigarettes, operating openly in Soi Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat under the jurisdiction of Bang Si Muang police.

Villagers knew, but police (supposedly) did not, as one newspaper report put it.

A police box, attached to the fence of the house, advises that the area falls under the local station’s jurisdiction.

The red box

Provincial police, who turned up to search the two-storey house as part of a government-initiated crackdown on vaping, found a Thai caretaker and three Lao workers there.

They were manufacturing and selling the illicit goods to local teens, reports said. Handily, the shop is also near a local school.

Sitthasak Jamphatip, 34, identified himself as the caretaker. The search revealed 310 bottles of kratom stored in a refrigerator and a large ice container, 614 bottles of liquid cough syrup used to mix with the kratom, 54 empty cough syrup bottles, and 1,037 pieces of kratom boiling equipment.

Inside the house, police also found 1,095 e-cigarettes and pouches of e-liquid.

Next to the house, Mr Sitthasak had set up a spot for boiling and packaging kratom, equipped with pots and burners, and kept a large number of plastic bottles for packaging kratom.

Under questioning, Mr Sitthasak said he was not the owner but was hired to take care of the place and sell kratom to customers. He claimed the e-cigarettes were kept by the owner and not for sale.

He had been working there for about a year, earning 600 baht a day, while the two Lao workers responsible for boiling and packaging kratom earned 300 baht a day. The third Lao worker was a housekeeper. Police seized the items and sent the suspects to Bang Si Muang police for legal proceedings.

Nasty way to go

The narrow crevasse where Somporn met this fate.

A Surin man fond of a drink died in a tight squeeze when he fell off a wall outside his house, his neighbour says.

The body of Somporn (no surname provided) 56, was found wedged in a wall crevice behind his rental room in Sangkha district on March 2.

Prapakorn Phunpha, 40, his neighbour and the first person to discover the body, said Somporn, who was fond of a drink, was in the habit of climbing onto the wall to relieve himself.

On this occasion, he appears to have lost his balance and fallen into the narrow gap between the wall and the back of his place, where he suffocated.

The crevasse is about 20cm wide.

Rescue workers were unable to pull the body out and had to go around the back, which was overgrown with bushes. They broke the wall to retrieve the body.

No signs of foul play were found, and Somporn was thought to have been dead for at least 7-8 hours.

Mr Prapakorn said he heard the sound of running water about 10am, so decided to check.

When he looked into the victim’s room, he saw no one inside. However, he noticed it was locked with a latch from the inside.

Feeling suspicious, he went up to the second floor and leaned out the window, where he saw Somporn stuck in the wall crevice.

He assumed Somporn must have fallen around 1-2am because he thought he heard the sound of someone knocking on the wall. However, he didn’t pay much attention.

He didn’t find the body until 10am, when it was too late.

'Dirty' wife flees hubby; kathoey predator; old man's pride

No choice but to withdraw

Phitsamai

A Chon Buri man has withdrawn a 20,000 baht reward offered for information leading to his missing wife after discovering she had left him to escape his nagging.

Komsan Puklang, 36, a construction contractor, posted the reward after his wife of more than 10 years, Phitsamai (no surname given), 22, left home on Feb 19 and failed to make contact again.

He was willing to offer the cash to anyone who could provide information about her whereabouts, his post said, adding their youngest child, one of three, cried for his mother every day.

He and his sister’s family had been searching for her since she was last seen walking from their home in Ban Bueng district. The search continued for two days without success, with the family also filing a report with local police.

On Feb 23 they received a tip that Phitsamai had been spotted working at a grilled chicken eatery in soi Sed Noi of the municipality.

The search party, including Phitsamai’s mother, Boonjaem Kimaen, 49, visited the shop, but Phitsamai, perhaps getting wind of their efforts, failed to show up for work.

Komsan Puklang

They asked to see the CCTV footage, which confirmed that Phitsamai had indeed been working there.

Mr Komsan said he had never had any serious arguments with Phitsamai, but did nag her occasionally about her lack of cleanliness.

He had given her responsibility for doing the household chores and taking care of their children, without putting any financial pressure on her. However, on the night of Feb 18, before she went missing, he had scolded her for using her phone until late and talking to others on TikTok.

The next morning he left for work and his wife disappeared. He heard later that his wife had run away to pursue her own freedom. As such, he had no choice but to let her go, and would withdraw the reward offer.

“I originally offered the 20,000 baht to find out if my wife was alive and safe.

“Once I learned that she was alive and did not want to return to our life together, I decided to call off the search. I will explain to the kids that their mother has left to work and is no longer with them,” he said sadly.

He later posted on Facebook cancelling the reward, adding he would spend the money supporting the kids, as he would now have to look after them alone.

The owner of the restaurant in soi Sed Noi where Phitsamai was employed said a Good Samaritan had brought her to work there. She was looking for someone to help sell food and hired Phitsamai, who started working on Feb 20.

Phitsamai, she said, told her she had argued with her husband and was living in difficult conditions, doing all the household chores and eating leftovers. She felt that no one in her husband’s family loved or cared for her.

Phitsamai failed to show up for work after news of her disappearance broke on TV and social media. The owner had asked her about the news and the reward, but Phitsamai denied it.

Phitsamai’s mother-in-law, Khamphu Nambunruang, 54, said she took her daughter-in-law into her home more than 10 years ago.

She said Phitsamai had not improved her cleanliness despite being assigned responsibility of caring for the children. Often, the children would wear the same clothes to school without bathing. She had reprimanded her, as her son never did.

Phitsamai’s mother, Ms Boonjaem, said she had come with her son-in-law and relatives to search for her daughter. They left the eatery disappointed after finding no trace of her. They would continue searching and would look after her if they found her.

Kathoey preys on 13-year-old

Influencer 'Rin'

A scheming kathoey posing as a social media influencer persuaded a Matthayom 1 student in Bangkok to meet her at a motel room.

The boy’s parents complained to Ekaphop Leuangprasert, founder of the “Sai Mai Must Survive” webpage who helps victims of crime.

The victim, 13, referred to as “Nong Mitch” (a pseudonym) in news reports, was playing on FB when an image of an attractive woman, known as “Rin”, appeared in his feed.

The two started chatting and a week later agreed to meet at a motel in Lat Krabang.

Arriving at the motel, he did not find “Rin” but instead encountered a kathoey, aged about 20, who claimed to be Rin’s younger brother.

The kathoey suggested he take a shower first. Later, the two chatted before the kathoey started feeling him up. He resisted and fled.

A few days later, the kathoey messaged him, threatening to post images she had taken secretly of him showering, along with explicit images they had exchanged earlier.

She demanded the boy return so she could film them having sex and sell the images on social media.

Mitch tried to expose the kathoey’s tactics on social media, which angered the other party, leading to false accusations that Mitch was mentally ill and harassing him.

The kathoey claimed the boy had demanded they swap explicit images, which he denies.

Later, his private images were widely circulated on social media, which Mitch’s friends at school saw, causing him embarrassment.

Reporters tracked down the real “Rin”, or Mint as she is also known, a beauty blogger with a wide following, whose images were used to create the fake account that tricked Mitch into parting with naughty pics.

Mint said she contacted the kathoey to ask what happened, but the suspect denied using her images.

Mint said many netizens in the past have stolen her images to create fake pages or Instagram accounts, which she has warned her fans about. However, this incident was the most severe as images from her high school days were used to deceive.

She believes the culprit has deceived more than 10 victims including Mitch, though one report put the figure as high as 100.

She had also received messages from dozens of strange accounts inviting her to engage in 18+ conversations. She filed a report with Pak Khlong Rangsit police.

Reports said the suspect posing as Rin was studying at a well-known university in Lat Krabang. Under threat of blackmail, some victims had been forced to let the kathoey engage in indecent acts and film them.

Mr Ekaphop took Mitch’s parents to see Pol Col Siriwat Deephor, commander of the Technology Crime Investigation Division 1, to proceed with legal action. Investigators have the pair’s social media exchanges and know the motel room where the incident occurred. The probe continues.

Old love dies hard

Boonsri Songjinda

Police have nabbed an 83-year-old man for stabbing to death his former lover, aged 60.

Ban Pong police in Ratchaburi nabbed Boonsri Songjinda for fatally stabbing Natthida Meelom, also known as Aunt Mali, supposedly in a dispute over a stolen bicycle, though some reports also mention jealousy.

Mr Boonsri, who fled the scene on an old motorcycle, and then thumbed rides from motorists, was found hiding at a shrimp farm in Nakhon Pathom’s Muang district where locals, thinking he had merely argued with his wife, took sympathy.

Mr Boonsri, who appeared exhausted and shocked, denied he intended to kill her. He and the victim argued after she filed a police complaint against him for allegedly stealing a bicycle, which he claimed he had actually bought her.

He said the victim refused to withdraw the complaint and even demanded he give her 5,000 baht, which he did not have. This led to the row, during which Aunt Mali attacked him with a fruit knife, he told police. He grabbed the knife and stabbed her three times.

After she fell to the ground he took a motorcycle parked nearby and fled along an irrigation canal road in Pak Rat subdistrict before abandoning the vehicle. He then hitched a series of rides to Nakhon Pathom before asking locals to shelter him at a hut by the shrimp pond, spinning a tale that he had fled an argument.

Police say the motive stemmed from Mr Boonsri’s anger over the victim’s refusal to withdraw the complaint and jealousy over her involvement with another man, though few details were available of her other admirer.

Mr Boonsri said he fled out of shock and did not think Aunt Mali would die. He said Aunt Mali often came to him asking for money, which he always gave because he loved her.

When asked if he had ever been involved in a murder case, Mr Boonsri admitted that he had, some 40 years ago. In tears, Mr Boonsri said he wanted to apologise to the victim’s family but would not attend the funeral out of fear for his safety.

Reporters visited Tha Pha temple in Ban Pong district, where funeral rites for Aunt Mali were held. Aunt Mali’s daughter said she does not believe the victim attacked Mr Boonsri first, as she was not an aggressive type. She also urged police to pursue legal action to the fullest extent. Police charged Mr Boonsri with premeditated murder.

Teen killer claim upsets; school sex shock; Van’s the man

Sex clip row ends in death

Police inspect Hilmi’s car.

A Narathiwat teen’s confession that he acted alone in throttling and stabbing to death a former sleeping partner has up-ended police theories about the brutal slaying.

Ra-ngae district police nabbed Abdullah (no surname given), 18, at his home in Kalisa sub-district for fatally stabbing motorcycle salesman, Hilmi Yako, 25, inside his white Toyota sedan. He earlier tried strangling him with a nylon rope found at the scene, and stabbed him to finish off the job.

The suspect, who admitted the murder, claimed he was angry because the victim recorded a video of them having sex and refused to delete it from his phone.

News media reports have made much of the fact the victim recently started his first job and was the mainstay of his family. His relatives have cast doubts on the suspect’s claims that he acted alone and want a more detailed probe.

Abdullah

Police say the DNA analysis by a forensic team in Narathiwat helped lead them to the killer. However, his Feb 11 arrest and confession in which he insisted acting alone upset earlier theories about the case.

Police initially suspected that at least two offenders must have been involved: one sitting behind the victim, who throttled him; and another in the passenger seat, who stabbed him.

A third person was thought to have picked up the offenders on a motorcycle and fled in what they said was a well planned, premeditated attack.

However, they could not figure out a motive other than “personal conflict”, as the victim was not known to have any problems with anyone.

In fact, Abdullah said he arranged to meet Hilmi alone. Hilmi, he said, was planning a trip to Vietnam.

He was sitting in the passenger seat and asked his friend to delete the clip he had taken secretly of them having sex, but Hilmi, police said, refused, leading to an argument which culminated in the fatal attack.

Hilmi hit the accelerator as they were talking, sending the vehicle into the ditch below. One TV report said Abdullah tried to strangle him with the rope but realised he was still alive, so stabbed him five times in the chest, abdomen, and left rib cage with a fruit knife.

He discarded the rope at the scene along with a pair of white gloves, and removed a surveillance camera from the vehicle.

Police say they found blood stains on the driver’s seat, along with a pair of glasses. They also found a ring under the seat, and a dinosaur toy. In the boot, officers found a black bag of clothing.

The suspect claims he fled into the forest, falling into a swamp and losing the knife, before clambering out and escaping via a concrete road. Police took him on a crime reconstruction, and searched the swamp, but could not find the weapon.

Pol Lt Gen Maitree Santayakul, Narathiwat police commander, said an investigation into the victim’s phone records is ongoing.

The suspect said he and the victim met at a local park. “The victim picked him up from a friend’s house, and they drove together. The suspect said the victim was bringing him a shirt,” he said.

Regarding the rope and knife used in the crime, the suspect did not say if he had prepared them in advance. “The suspect’s lack of truthfulness is not a significant obstacle; the main challenge is gathering witness testimony,” Pol Lt Gen Maitree said.

TV reports said the victim’s elder brother, among other family members, dispute claims Abdullah acted alone, and want police to review the evidence.

Police say they spoke to witnesses in the area. They learned the sedan had been seen parked by the roadside, and it appeared the occupants were talking. After a while, the car rolled off the road. Locals reported the incident to the village headman, who called police.

Investigators charged the suspect with premeditated murder. The probe continues.

Kids learn bad tricks

The mother complains to police.

A mother in Chon Buri has complained to police after her son was forced to perform sex games at school by three older children from neighbouring countries.

Netizens were aghast as news spread of the saga involving the Thai boy, aged 7, whose mother, “A”, 33, went to Ban Bueng police when the school’s reaction fell short.

A also posted a message to a website asking if she could sue the children concerned, news reports said.

The mother, a factory worker, said her son, aged 7, who is in Grade 1, was forced to perform sex games by three older children from Cambodia and Myanmar who study in the same class. She found out about the Feb 7 incident after a parent of one of her son’s classmates contacted her.

A group of students aged 10 and 11, (some news reports said they were aged 8 and 9), consisting of Cambodian and Myanmar nationals, had restrained her son and A’s own son and forced them to perform oral sex, she said.

They waited until there was no one in sight, pinned down the boys and forced them to submit.

A said her son did not mention anything about it until she asked. She decided to question her son after his classmate’s mother contacted her to ask if her son had also been subject to the same treatment.

A said she was shocked when her son admitted he had been restrained by the older students.

She decided to ask at the school, which is in Map Phai sub-district. The teacher said the children were “just playing” and wanted to try it out. However, A insists the kids were not playing, and her son did not want to try it.

She said the school has many foreign students from Cambodia and Myanmar, outnumbering Thais. The school, she said, accepts students from neighbouring countries who are older but study together.

She understands the school wants to provide a better future for the migrant children, but she thinks they should “screen” children better because not all kids are the same. She was also unsure about the behaviour of children from neighbouring countries and how they play.

A said the parents of the offending children had not contacted her, and nor had school called them in for a chat. The school had, however, offered to install additional CCTV cameras to monitor student behaviour.

The older students, A said, took advantage of a time when no one was watching to invite her son to play inappropriately, without him knowing whether it was appropriate or not.

Other parents, she said, remarked that their sons, also in Grade 1, had encountered older school students who offered them candy in the bathroom, saying, “Do you want some candy?” The children ran away and refused to participate.

The term “candy” is slang among inmates, meaning the kids were about to be initiated, reports said. Accepting the candy implies one must engage in sexual activities.

The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) ordered an investigation. Ban Bueng police, meanwhile, said the issue is a sensitive one involving children aged under 15, requiring an investigation with multidisciplinary teams.

They urged parents to set a good example. They will summon the parents of the foreign children for counselling.

And that’s ‘Cut!’

Chutipong’s car, which he took ‘drifting’ around corners.

A man in Chiang Mai suffering from stress decided to practise “drifting” at speed around city street corners to help work off his tensions.

Locals alerted Chang Phuak police after seeing the white Suzuki sedan taking street corners at high speed in Muang district. He would tackle a corner, stop and take off again as if performing a stunt in a movie.

Police caught up with Chutipong (no surname provided), 40, outside a convenience store in Suthep sub-district, when he admitted driving recklessly.

He said several problems had come to a head so he decided to take his car out drifting to work off stress.

He said he was a fan of Dominic “Dom” Toretto, a fictional character in the Fast & Furious franchise played by Vin Diesel.

Chutipong

He had been practising drifting (making controlled skids through a turn), Dom-style, for about a month but wanted to try it on city streets rather than a racetrack because it was more exciting.

After being caught, he expressed remorse and apologised to motorists.

However, he said he would continue to drift, albeit in safe locations that wouldn’t disturb others.

Pol Col Winitchai Pinitsak, head of Chang Phuak police, said a medical check found no drugs in his system and no psychiatric history, suggesting it was a personal preference.

However, racing on public roads was illegal and unacceptable. Police charged Chutipong with reckless driving, operating a vehicle without regard for safety, using a vehicle without a licence plate, and driving without a valid driver’s licence.

He spent his first night in a holding cell as he was denied bail.

On day two, police set bail at 50,000 baht while waiting for further medical documents. They said they would ask the Chiang Mai District Court to order confiscation of Chutipong’s vehicle as his behaviour posed a danger on the road.