Double life; karaoke slaying mystery; body in the car

Heat of the moment

Sangwian Rodchan reconstructs the murder of his lover.

A married man terrified his wife would find out about an illicit affair killed his lover rather than let the secret come out.

Police nabbed Sangwian “Lek” Rodchan, 52, at his Bangkok home on Oct 22 for strangling to death his Laos lover, Panlawee (no surname given), in his home province of Uthai Thani a few days before.

Mr Sangwian, a driver who also sells second-hand motorcycles part-time, left Bangkok with his wife on Oct 17 to make merit for his late father on the third anniversary of his death.

They were due to return to Bangkok two days later, but Panlawee, his illicit lover of two months who heard about his trip, turned up in the province’s Lan Sak district first.

This forced Mr Sangwian to open a room for her at a small resort about 7km away without telling his wife and family.

He divided his time between her and his family home where he left his wife, making various excuses for his absence. On Oct 19, before he was due to leave, he claimed he was heading into the forest to pick fruit. In fact, he picked up his girlfriend from her room to see some hot springs, CCTV images show.

Panlawee, however, refused to part ways with Mr Sangwian when it came time to go. “She wanted to declare her presence as his lover to his wife and family, and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” news reports said.

Mr Sangwian, who was scared his wife would find out, lost his temper with Panlawee, and throttled her in his van. He dumped the body in a nearby cassava plantation.

Media reports say he dragged the body about 20 metres, arms and legs bound together with a nylon rope trussed around her neck. He also pulled up her shirt to cover her face, though some reports say he covered her head with a sack he found in his van.

Later, he returned with his wife to their place in Samran Rat of Bangkok and carried on with life as usual, media reports say, even meeting his friends outside the soi for a drink as if nothing had happened.

When police nabbed him on Oct 22, his shocked wife of 18 years, Mon, 45, said she knew nothing about her husband’s philandering ways or the murder which took place in Uthai Thani. Mr Sangwian said he did not intend to kill his victim but acted in the heat of the moment.

Mon, despite harbouring no suspicions about her husband’s behaviour, said she noticed a strange woman had been calling over the past month.

“Once when I asked who it was, the caller replied, “Why do you want to know?’” she told reporters. She thought the incident was odd but put it out of her mind, as she was too busy raising their two children.

Mon said her husband was a good provider and she assumed he would be too busy to bother with a woman on the side. She felt sad about what happened and wanted to apologise to the victim’s relatives.

“We can all make mistakes and forgive. My husband claims it was the spur of the moment. He was wrong, but the other side refused to yield. I would like to go home with my husband as we were before, but now it has happened I have no choice but to battle on,” she said. They have a daughter, aged 16, and a son, six.

News reports say his victim worked in Nakhon Phanom province and has three children from a previous marriage. It is unclear how they met. Police took Mr Sangwian back to Uthai Thani for a crime reconstruction. They charged him with premeditated murder and disguising a body.

Showing too much interest

The karaoke joint where the murder took place.

Relatives of a man killed at a karaoke joint in Nakhon Phanom rained curses on the man charged with his murder, as police escorted him to court.

Sri Songkram police nabbed the karaoke shop owner, Nara “Ole” Matchaiken, 52, for fatally shooting customer Phattharachai “Tom” Bunramee, 33, from Tha Uthen district, who had dared ask after his wife.

Mr Nara, seized by jealousy, shot him in the back as he was having a drink at his shop, though relatives suspect there is more to it. Phattharachai was a regular, drinking there a couple of times a month.

Mr Nara, who was waiting for police when they arrived, said he shot his victim with a 9mm calibre handgun. He claims he acted in the heat of the moment, though the two did not argue beforehand.

Phattharachai, he said, liked to joke around with his wife, 35, from Laos, and often asked after her, as he did on the day he was shot. “I was worried they would get carried away so I shot him,” he said.

Phattharachai, the victim.

Phattharachai, who was sitting with his back to the shooter, had no idea it was coming and no chance to defend himself, his family say. The victim died at the scene.

The karaoke shop, like many of its type, employs young women who sit with customers and serve them, relatives said.

“The staff at these places are supposed to look after customers. How can the suspect shoot his customer for merely asking after his wife?” one asked incredulously.

The killer knew his victim. They were close enough that Mr Nara had closed his shop on some occasions so they could carry on drinking, one said. He asked if something had occurred beforehand to set the killer off.

As police were taking Mr Nara to Nakhon Phanom court, relatives gathered outside cursed him. They said they hoped he would go to jail and his wife, over whom he was so manically protective, finds a new man.

The killer’s wife, unnamed in reports, said she was in her room at the time. Police charged him with premeditated murder.

Nasty surprise

The nurse’s car in Si Sa Ket.

A nurse in Si Sa Ket was shocked to open her car door and find the body of a woman inside. The stranger let herself in while the owner was away and later died.

Thawadee (no surname given), accidentally left her Honda Jazz unlocked early on Oct 21, close to Si Sa Ket hospital where she works.

She took a motorsai for the last leg of the journey before her shift. When she returned with her young son in tow after 6pm, she opened the back door of the vehicle to find a woman lying dead on the seat.

Thawadee said her nurse’s training told her immediately the woman, who she did not know, was dead. CCTV images at the scene show her hurriedly shepherding her son to one side while she called police.

Muang police later identified the mystery woman as Bunthida (no surname given), aged 53, who was seeing a doctor for her cerebral atrophy condition, which often left her confused, when she wandered off.

Relatives, who reported her missing, thought she was visiting the toilet when she disappeared.

CCTV images tracked down after the body was discovered show her wandering alone towards Thawadee’s car, opening the back door and climbing inside.

Bunthida, who had suffered from the condition for two years, was to die in the vehicle from unknown causes.

Dressing it up; naked theft antics; juggling two wives

One story after another

Kanlayakorn Renunaem

Police in Nakhon Pathom suspect that plain robbery lies behind a brutal murder in which a woman stabbed to death her half-brother, rather than sibling rivalry as the suspect claims.

Muang police nabbed Kanlayakorn Renunaem, 28, for stabbing to death her younger brother Kanchit, 23, who runs a Chinese banquet service, after luring him from his family home.

She also stole a necklace worth three baht in gold weight and two buddha amulets from her dying brother before fleeing the scene to a motel in Uthai, Ayutthaya.

Ms Kanlayakorn said she killed her brother out of pique, that their father loved him more than her (they were born to the same father but different mothers), though she also admits she was in debt and robbery played a part.

She said she called her brother to a spot on the road close to his family home to “clear the air”. The two started to argue and she pulled out a knife, stabbing him repeatedly.

Speaking after her arrest, Ms Kanlayakorn claimed she was about to take him to hospital but decided against it when a bystander approached. The suspect also claimed she “asked” her brother for his gold and amulets, which he parted with before dying in hospital from his injuries.

When police caught up with her in Ayutthaya, she was resting after her ordeal, news reports said. Ms Kanlayakorn, who had a good story ready for her captors, claimed she intended to return the gold the next day, and hand herself in to police in Nong Khae, Saraburi, where she lives with her mother’s family. However, the police caught up with her first.

CCTV images aired by the media suggest the slaying was premeditated. They show her hiding in wait with her motorcycle close to Kanchit’s home. When her brother left in his car for their meeting, she headed off in a different direction for their rendezvous, no doubt hoping to get their first. “Why didn’t they go together if she really wanted to talk, or just follow him when she saw his car leaving the house?” one news presenter asked.

Fatefully, perhaps, CCTV images taken from inside the home show the victim’s mother handing him his gold necklace and buddha amulets as he was about to hop into his vehicle for the journey.

After hearing about Kanchit’s death, relatives gathered and shouted at the suspect as she took police on a crime reconstruction. They dismissed claims that their father showed favouritism towards the victim and said the victim was a good man who did not deserve such a brutal death.

“You’re just talking nonsense,” one woman exclaimed. The victim’s father, Siriporn, who said he could not understand why she suddenly turned up and lured his son to his death, also refused to meet her gaze.

Speaking about her debt problems, Ms Kanlayakorn said she asked her father before the attack for help paying off her debt, but he showed no interest. Mr Siriporn insisted he had supported her since she was a child.

Pol Maj Gen Chotiwat Luengwilai, head of Ayutthaya regional police, said the case was disturbing. “Even if a brother and sister were in conflict, it shouldn’t have come to this,” he said, remarking on the brutality of the stabbing. Muang police in Nakhon Pathom would decide on charges, he said.

Making himself at home

 The burglar in Rayong takes it all off.

Police in Rayong are looking for a burglar with a peculiar habit of stripping naked while he goes to work.

Paisit Jiamanukulkit, owner of a building in Muang district, says he has been robbed twice recently, probably by the same offender.

He said the first break-in was on Oct 2, when the burglar stole copper wiring from various appliances, disabled the CCTV, and stole buddha images. He caused about 50,000 baht in damages.

The most recent break-in, Mr Paisit said, was on Oct 14, when the burglar gained entry via the building next door. While the burglar was careful to disable the CCTV cameras on his first visit, some cameras did catch his image during the more recent break-in.

The CCTV images showed him parading about the place naked as he slowly made his way downstairs, carrying on as if he owned the place, Mr Paisit said bitterly.

“He helped himself to a drink from the fridge, took a rest on the sofa, tried on my clothes, and even took a shower,” he said.

The robber, who appears aged 25-30, is tall, bearded, and tattooed on his back. He disabled the CCTV camera on the third storey, but cameras on lower floors caught his image as he went from room to room, opening the doors and rummaging about.

On the first floor he came across Mr Paisit’s wardrobe, and started trying on clothes, discarding the items which did not take his fancy.

Mr Paisit said the burglar’s backpack was bulging with items he had stuffed in it, including buddha images and trophies which his company had been awarded. He also took a desktop computer, and stole the copper wiring from the fridge light.

He was about to take the TV but must have thought better of it, as it was too big. Total damages wrought by the thief now exceed 200,000 baht, he said.

It is unclear whether the robber knew the cameras on the lower levels were watching, though he did not seem in any hurry.

“He was really making himself at home. If he goes to this extent, why not just move in?” asked Mr Paisit, who complained to Muang police about the thefts.

“A repair man, called in after the thief stole copper wiring from my air con, reckons he was no mere thief, as he did the job too professionally,” he added.

He has appealed to police to get a move on with their probe. Locals were scared at the thought the robber could act with such impunity as to strip naked while stealing from someone else’s place.

One wife too many

Police inspect Chanchai's home.

An elderly man in Pathum Thani apparently found the stress of keeping two wives too much, taking his own life at his car repair yard after returning from his mistress’s house.

Thanyaburi police were called to the repair yard, ATM Service, owned by Chanchai (no surname given), 73, after staff found him dead on his bed upstairs.

One news report said he was living in “two worlds” (a reference to his having two wives, or two realities which occasionally collide). Another, just as tactful, said he shot himself moments after returning from the “little house” (his minor wife’s place).

Samruay (no surname given), 53, who repairs car radiators, said Chanchai turned up in his pickup shortly after 7am on Oct 16, just as the repair yard was about to open. He said he had just returned from seeing his second wife.

“He went straight up to the second storey,” he said. “When a customer arrived, I called out but there was no response, so I sent one of the juniors up for a look.”

No one heard the gun going off, so the gruesome find came as a shock. The unlucky staff member who discovered the body, Thawatchai (no surname given), 19, a motor mechanic, said he noticed Chanchai hadn’t come down, which he thought was odd.

“Normally he sits there welcoming customers from early in the morning. The radiator guy sent me up for a look after he called his name but failed to get a response. I found him dead in a pool of blood,” he said.

The victim, who was found lying on his bed, was still holding a gun in his left hand.

Police, who suspect suicide, have sent the body for an autopsy. It is unclear what led Chanchai to take his own life, though they suspected the stress of his keeping two wives might have contributed.

Facing the music; druggie Mum hits son; robbery thwarted

Caught in the act

Sitthipong ‘Taen’ Kaewchingduang

A merciless thug with a lengthy rap sheet who brutally attacked a local teen and allegedly tried to rape a young woman has handed himself in to police in Chon Buri.

Sitthipong “Taen” Kaewchingduang, 37, who goes by the alias Nak Rop (fighter), turned up at Nong Prue police station in Bang Lamung district eight days after his victims first complained.

After the case failed to make progress, the victims contacted a support group for crime victims in Bangkok, who further publicised their plight until Taen finally came forward.

Speaking at the station, Taen said he wanted to protest his innocence of the rape allegations, as he had been falsely accused of rape last year by an “old nemesis” but the case was finally overturned in his favour.

While he admitted attacking a teen boy and taking drugs during his latest exploits, he did not rape anyone, he insisted. “If I am game enough to do it, I have to be game enough to own up to it,” he added.

Taen, a tattoo-clad person of influence in Na Kluea sub-district, appears to act with impunity, judging by the gravity of his latest offending spree, and claims to know local police, his victims say. He is thought to have “many tens” of gullible teens under his control.

Taen, police say, has a long rap sheet spanning drugs, robbery, and weapons charges. In 2006 he was convicted of premeditated murder, for which he served 16 years before his release in February 2022. He is the younger brother of another local thug, Surachat “Tam Nak Rop”, killed by police in 2011 after he opened fire on them during a drugs bust.

Police at Nong Prue station promptly gave Taen a urine test and found drugs in his system.

However, his latest offending, of which drug use is just a part, also encompasses a brutal assault against a teen minion, which unhappily for Taen was filmed by witnesses at two locations, and an alleged rape of a woman he barely knew at a local motel.

The saga started on Sept 27 when Taen and his girlfriend, Hong (no surname given), fell off Taen’s motorcycle in a traffic accident. Taen was injured, but his girlfriend, apparently unhurt, wandered off down the road.

She asked two bystanders on a motorcycle, Man (no surname given), and his girlfriend, Nok (no surname given), both aged 20, to take her to a “safe place”.

Man said he dropped Hong off at a house in soi Thep Prasit in Nong Prue sub-district where she spoke briefly to a teen there.

Media reports referred to the teen, Mick (no surname given, and previously identified as Tang is news reports), 15, as one of Taen’s minions, albeit a reluctant one.

Mick and his mother, along with Man and his girlfriend Nok, were among those who later laid complaints with police about Taen.

Taen, who was trying to track down his girlfriend after the accident, later turned up at the house and accused Mick of trying to hide her. Mick said Hong indeed came by but took off again soon after.

Refusing to listen, Taen dragged the boy from his bed and kicked him repeatedly. A clip of the attack, taken by someone else in the room, was released to the media.

Mick, the teen victim of Taen’s assault.

Earlier, Taen had tracked down the bystander, Nok, whose boyfriend dropped off Hong at the house, to her place in Na Kluea sub-district. She insisted that she and her boyfriend help him locate Hong.

He brought hapless Nok along to Mick’s house, where she also bore witness to his assault.

Later, Taen took the pair with him on his bike as he renewed his search for Hong, at one point stopping in the Paekong shrine area. As they got off his bike, Taen once again assaulted Mick. A bystander filmed him kicking the boy in the head, and tossing about his unconscious body.

Nok was also witness to this attack but perhaps too scared to do anything, just stood there.

Mick later went before the media to show the injuries he sustained, including cuts to his left ankle, a swollen face, and bloody eyes and ears.

Later Taen took the pair to a resort where he allegedly tried to rape Nok, after sending Mick to the bathroom to prepare drug-taking gear.

Speaking after his surrender, Taen denied hurting Nok, saying he simply took the pair there to take drugs. Mick and Nok, however, say he tried to rape Nok out of frustration at not being able to find his girlfriend.

He freed Nok later the next morning. As for Mick, he dumped him by the side of the road, where a bystander came to his aid.

Taen was unable to find his girlfriend, whom media reports said may have decided to flee rather than put up with him any longer. Nong Prue police said they would pursue rape, assault and drugs cases against Taen.

Blinded by drugs

Drug suspect Aom.

A druggie in Udon Thani attacked her own son after mistaking him for someone else’s child.

Muang police were called to a house in Chiang Yuen sub-district where they found Suwisa “Aom” Chompupeun, 32, in a distressed state.

She said a child she did not recognise entered her room and started smashing up the wardrobe and hitting her. She attacked the child in response and drove him from the house.

Her long-suffering family, who met police at the scene, say Ms Aom in fact mistook her own son, Focus, 13, for the intruder and that he merely went upstairs to retrieve his phone.

Ms Aom, they said, a hardened drug addict with a 10-year habit, had earlier taken ya ba and was hallucinating. She tried to throttle Focus but he managed to break free of her grasp.

As the boy fled downstairs, Ms Aom pursued him, throwing a piece of wood which hit his head, and charging at him with two large knives, the boy said.

Focus, who says he loves his mother dearly despite her drug-fuelled rages, was able to flee. He sought refuge at a nearby temple where he collapsed from his injuries, to his head, knee and elbow.

Aom’s mother, Ratee Phothirach, 51, took the boy to hospital to get his wounds patched up. She said Focus has the blood disorder thalassemia, and often needs transfusions. “I was worried the injuries could be serious if left unaddressed,” she said.

As they returned from the hospital, Ms Aom, still under the effects of the drug, pointed to the child. “This kid here...he did it. I don’t know what it is, it isn’t my son,” she told police.

This was too much for Ms Ratee’s Dad, Yom Phothirach, 78, who raised his hand as if to strike Ms Aom. “She doesn’t recognise anyone, talks nonsense, and flares up violently,” he grumbled. Fearing matters would escalate, police took Ms Aom upstairs as they searched her room, where they found half a tablet of ya ba.

Ms Ratee said Aom is hooked on drugs, doesn’t work, and leaves her with the burden of raising her three children: a daughter, aged 14, Focus, and a son, aged five. No word was to hand about the father.

“The day the digital money came out, she spent 1,000 baht on drugs,” Ms Ratee said. Ms Aom kept another 6,000 baht of the total, and she suspects it had since been spent on ya ba.

As police took Ms Aom to the station, locals who had gathered at the house started abusing her. “I have taken her to detox twice, each time for three months, but when she gets out she goes back to drugs,” Ms Ratee said. The family had built a lean-to in front of the house where they flee for safety when she flares up.

Police said they would give Ms Aom a urine test for drugs, and were willing to charge her for abuse if the faly wanted to take matters further.

‘Motorsai’ to the rescue

Kamphan Srihasuk

A thief in Samut Sakhon who robbed a gold shop was thwarted when motorcycle taxi guys charged at his getaway bike, flipping it over.

Muang district and regional police nabbed Kamphan Srihasuk, 24, disguised as a delivery worker and wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet and gloves when he stormed the store in Tha Sai district.

He jumped the counter of a gold shop at Tesco Lotus Mahachai and scooped up 84 necklaces worth 205 baht weight in gold. He threw them in his bag and ran out of the store.

As he was fleeing on his motorcycle, a “motorsai” guy standing nearby realised what was happening, got on his own bike and charged at him. He knocked the thief off his bike.

“The thief ran off on foot but one of the guys kicked him into the canal, and when he emerged we held him until police arrived,” said the motorcycle taxi hero, unnamed in news reports.

Police retrieved the gold and also found a pocket knife in his bag, plus a fake gun and two large firecrackers. His motorcycle had been spray-painted white, and the registration plate removed. Mr Kamphan, who police say made little sense under questioning, was tight-lipped about what motivated him. Police charged him with attempted theft.

Ruffian runs amok; callous teen killing; barn puzzle

‘Taen’ leaves trail of destruction

Taen in security guard gear.

Police in Chon Buri are looking for a local ruffian who allegedly beat up a young man and raped a woman in frustration after his girlfriend, despairing of his wild behaviour, left him.

Bang Lamung police were looking for a rabble rouser known as Taen (no surname given), 37, who throws his weight around in Na Kluea sub-district where he lives, media reports say.

Local Mum, Elle (no surname given), 36, took her son, Tang, 15, to lay a complaint after Taen assaulted him at a friend’s place and abducted him, while bringing along a woman acquaintance who herself fell victim to his wild rampage.

His bender appears to have lasted hours, and as victims come forward police have also learned that in another incident, Taen allegedly assaulted a man at a car repair yard, apparently without provocation.

Back to Tang’s saga, Elle said the beating left her teenage son with cuts to his left ankle, a swollen face, bloody eyes, and blood coming from his ears.

He met Taen a month ago through a friend. The older man turned up at the house he was staying in, pulled him from his bed, abducted him, and after a savage beating abandoned him unconscious by the side of the road, according to news reports.

After they first met, Tang said Taen tried to get him to do “bad things” such as delivering drugs, and beat him when he refused.

Fearing for his safety, he fled home to sleep with an ex-work friend of his mother’s in soi Thep Prasit of Nong Prue sub-district.

However, Taen found out where he was staying and on the night of Sept 30 turned up with a woman he knew and pulled him from his bed.

He took the pair to the community near Paekong shrine in Na Kluea sub-district. Elle, the mother, said Taen punched her son and kicked him until the boy fainted. Locals were able to take a partial clip of the beating.

“Taen said his girlfriend had left him and he blamed me for driving her away, even though I knew nothing about it,” Tang told police.

The young woman Taen brought with him, Noi (assumed name), 20, an assistant chief at a hotel in Pattaya, is another victim of the saga.

Noi, who did not spell out how they met, said Taen forced her to accompany him on his motorbike as he cruised about looking for his runaway girlfriend, and later abducted Tang.

Noi said he beat Tang and took the pair to a place in soi Chaipornwithi 8 in Nong Prue where he held the pair against their will. He ordered Tang into the bathroom so he could not watch, as he raped Noi to let off steam, news reports said.

Later he released Noi. She fled and told her boyfriend what happened, before laying a complaint with Nong Prue police. Elle, the teen’s mother, said Taen dumped her son unconscious by the roadside in soi Chaipornwithi 8. Locals found him and alerted police.

Meanwhile, Sarawut (no surname given) 28, who hails from Nakhon Ratchasima, also complained to Bang Lamung police, after Taen allegedly threw rocks at him and punched him.

“I was having a motorcycle repaired in the soi Na Klua area on Sept 30 when Taen walked up and hit me. We’d never had a problem before, I don’t know what provoked it,” he said.

Police are looking for Taen. The case continues.

Murder out of the ordinary

Big (wearing blue) at the scene of the crime by the pond.

Locals in Songkhla are shocked at the cold-hearted way a schoolboy killed a classmate, supposedly after he criticised his Mum.

The body of Nong Fang (no surname given) a Mathayom 3 student, aged 15, lay by a deserted pond in Khlong Hoi Khong district for up to five days after his friend, Big (no surname given), 15, lured him to the spot, beat him, and returned later to strangle him.

He stole the boy’s motorcycle and left it with relatives of his girlfriend’s in Hat Yai, and his phone, which he later sold after blocking attempts by his worried family to track down the young man.

Khlong Hoi Khong police turned up at Big’s house to question the boy, as he was the last one to see the victim alive. The body was found by a mushroom picker on Sept 29 after the boy went missing five days earlier. Fang was seen leaving school with Big and one other boy about 1pm.

At first Big denied knowing what happened, saying Fang dropped him and his friend off at home, as was his custom, before taking off alone. However, after police probed further, he admitted the killing, saying Fang had insulted his mother so he attacked him to get even.

Fang was found wearing his school uniform. Bruises covered his body, as if he had been hit. He was found with nylon rope around his neck, which Big admitted using to strangle him.

Big, who was regarded as the leader of their “gang”, would regularly get Fang to take him home after school. However, on this occasion he ordered him to take him to the pond.

At some point Fang must have said something to annoy him. When they got off the bike they started hitting each other, but Fang was no match for the bigger boy’s strength, and was knocked out.

Big left on his motorcycle but later returned with a nylon rope, strangling the boy’s unconscious body. Later still, in another callous move, he took his girlfriend back to view the boy’s body, before taking the stolen motorcycle to Hat Yai and leaving him there.

Fang’s elder sister, Fern, says her brother normally takes his mother to work in the mornings and picks her up after school. “That day he didn’t turn up, which raised our concerns. His teacher and friends told us he came to school as usual; there were no dramas that day with his mates,” she said.

His family alerted police and posted to social media appealing for sightings. Fang’s granddad, unnamed in news reports, said he called the boy’s number.

“For the first two days it was ringing, until the person at the other end blocked us,” he said. Reports say Big later sold it to a shop in the area.

Police also spoke to the third boy on the bike that day, Sam (assumed name), who said he was shocked to hear Big had killed Fang.

He said the three took the same bike home about 1pm on Sept 24 after finishing their exams. “Fang took me home first, and I don’t know what happened after that. Big kept coming to school as usual, but Fang had vanished,” he said. “When they were on the motorbike together they were still talking nicely enough,” he added.

Police say they followed the signal of Fang’s phone to a location close to where Big lives, and about 3km from where the body was found. When they called, the recipient cut off the call.

They also tracked CCTV cameras and saw Big leaving the school that afternoon on Fang’s motorbike, with Fang on the back.

Big’s mother, who apologised to the victim’s family, said her son, the youngest of four, was a good student who showed no tendency to flare up in anger. Reports did not spell out what charges Big will face.

A complicated manoeuvre

The barn where Utt was found dead with his hands tied behind his back.

Mystery surrounds the death of a man in Surin found strangled in a deserted barn with his hands tied behind his back.

Utt, as he was found

While his family suspects he was depressed and may have taken his own life, locals wonder how he managed to tie his hands.

A rescue worker in Khok Takhian of Kap Choeng district, where the body was found, posted images of the body. The dead man was identified as Utt (no surname given), 41, and appeared to have been murdered, he said.

Utt was found in a rice barn with the light left on. He is thought to have slept there regularly since returning from the provinces a couple of years ago.

Police found a pair of scissors, a water canister, cigarette lighter, tobacco, and clothes. They also found a large pile of cigarette butts, as if the man had been smoking furiously beforehand as he decided whether to take such a fateful step.

Utt’s body was found seated, legs crossed, with his arms tied behind back and a rope around his neck. He is thought to have been dead for about two days.

No suicide note was found. That, and the fact his hands were tied, led to social media speculation that he may have met with foul play, though police have no suspect. They say they are keeping an open mind.

His elder sister, who lives in the provinces, said Utt had no problems with anyone, but may have been depressed. “Last month, when I returned for a relative’s funeral, he said he’d be the one who died next,” she said.

“I have no idea why my brother was speaking like that. But when I heard about his death, I was not surprised, and we do not suspect anything amiss,” she told reporters.

Netizens, who widely shared pictures of the body, said a man who strangles himself would presumably need to keep his hands free.

Police, who sent the body for an autopsy, said the rope fastening his hands was wound over rather than being tied in a hard-and-fast knot. Inquiries are continuing.

Ambushed at home; unlucky switch; car yields drug haul

Teacher no role model

Nipha Darasaen points to the carpark where the robbery took place.

Buri Ram police are seeking the arrest of a teacher with a gambling problem who they suspect mounted a daring robbery on a local trader.

Nipha Darasaen, 56, was attacked in the garage of her Phutthaisong district home by a thief wearing a face covering.

Ms Nipha, who runs a wholesale shop at a market about 500m away, was hopping on a motorbike early on Sept 23 as she prepared to open her store for the day.

CCTV images recovered from the scene show the thief arriving earlier on foot and turning around the motorcycle so its front was facing towards the road.

This was possibly because she intended to use the vehicle to help her flee the scene.

In the event, Ms Nipha, wife of the deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Nawanit Phonken, according to media reports, put up such a spirited fight that the thief was forced to abandon the scene on foot.

The thief also put up a large umbrella, presumably to help shield her from the gaze of the CCTV cameras as she lay in hiding by a side wall, waiting for Ms Nipha to appear.

Earlier, the thief, who appears to have known the property well, scaled a wall behind the outdoor parking area to gain access to the spot.

When Ms Nipha appeared shortly after 3am, the thief sprang at her, lunging for her bag, which was slung across her body. In her other hand, the thief carried a fruit knife, Ms Nipha said.

Ms Nipha let off piercing screams as she yelled for help. “The thief tried to close my mouth, but I managed to push her to the ground. However, she got back on her feet again and resumed trying to wrest the bag from me,” Ms Nipha told reporters.

“She stabbed my hand so I decided to let the bag go before things got any worse.”

The CCTV images show the thief fleeing on foot, carrying the victim’s bag which contained 15,000 baht in cash. Ms Nipha, who returned to her house to summon help, was taken to hospital, where her hand injuries needed five stitches.

She said she had noticed the motorcycle was facing the wrong direction, but assumed her son had turned it around for her.

District and regional police discussed the daring robbery. Phutthaisong station chief, Pol Maj Gen Thatchapol Songsaeng, said police suspected the thief was a local, as she was able to flee the scene on foot, and officers found no sign of her in other images taken by security cameras nearby.

An Amarin TV reporter was present at the station that night when police called in a local teacher, unnamed in news reports, to help with their inquiries.

The woman, who objected to being filmed, said she turned up merely to protest her innocence. However, news reports said police had identified her as a suspect.

The woman, aged about 49, a senior teacher at a state school in the district, has a gambling problem, and had been caught several times previously for theft, the reports said.

News reports said police asked her to give a blood sample so they could compare it with forensic evidence. “She was busted for theft previously in Na Pho district but she got away with it because she had her husband claim that he was the sole guilty party,” police said.

“Since moving to Phutthaisong district she had been caught for theft several times, but police lacked sufficient evidence and had to let her go,” they added. Officers said they were hoping for better luck this time.

The village head, Krittapol Prakankij, said he was shocked by the robbery. “We have so many cameras in this district, but the thief still staged the robbery,” he said.

The victim’s nephew, Nanthawut Kantho, 37, said the thief was unlikely to be a professional, as she was carrying a mere fruit knife as a weapon. The case continues.

Meatballs can’t compete

 Sitthipop ‘Arm’ Thamwiset, nabbed with a large amount of ya ba.

Police in Buri Ram nabbed a meatball delivery guy who says he entered the drug trade recently because it was easier work and paid better.

Muang police arrested Sitthipop, or “Arm” Thamwiset, 32, at home after hearing that a local man was selling ya ba to small-time addicts and dealers.

A search of his rented place turned up 184,177 tablets bound in parcels. Mr Sitthipop admitted they were his, saying he picked them up in Ubon Ratchathani.

Before entering the drugs trade, news reports said, Mr Sitthipop de-
livered meatballs for a well-known brand, travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani.

However, it was a long journey and on top of that he had to haul the bags of meal balls to customers.

“A friend recommended I get into the ya ba trade instead. I knew the route well, so thought, Why not? I used my savings to buy some pills, and started selling them to people my mate knew,” he added. “It was easy income, so I left my old job to become a drug dealer.”

News reports did not say how long he had been selling drugs before he was caught, or how much money he was making. Police charged him with possession with intent to supply.

Lucky drug find

The huge drug haul found in a car.

Police in Nong Khai made a fortuitous drug discovery when they turned out to the scene of an argument only to find an abandoned car containing half a tonne of methamphetamine.

Muang police on Sept 24 were called to a motel (“resort” in Thai) in Khai Bok Wan sub-district where locals heard guests arguing.

They did not find those involved, but did discover an abandoned Honda Accord, which was covered in dents as if it had been in many rough scrapes.

“It seemed a bit suspect, so we took a look and found a huge haul of drugs,” said one officer. Local police, Interior Ministry staff, the regional police chief, and provincial governor announced the bust.

Officers found 489 bags of the drug ice, labelled as tea, hidden in sacks. The haul weighed 489kg in total, and was worth about 200 million baht.

Inquiries led to the arrest of three suspects, with police seizing assets worth 3 million baht thought to be linked to their crimes. They were looking for another three suspects.

The suspects are thought to have fled the scene after the row broke out rather than risk being caught, but inquiries led to their arrest anyway. They were charged with possession with intent to supply.