Drug saga deepens, Suphawut kicks goal, crotch shot

Amy stays in jail as case continues

Amy

Actress Amelia “Amy” Jacobs is in a Min Buri prison as the police case against her for selling illegal drugs deepens.

Min Buri District Court jailed Amy, 28, last Thursday as police build their case against her and boyfriend Punyawat Hirantecha, 40. They have charged the pair with possession of illicit drugs with intent to sell. Her first period of detention, before police present their case to prosecutors, runs until Oct 2.

Her mother and father visited her at Sai Mai station, and then later at the prison, where they discussed bail arrangements with the actress, amid reports they have to find 5 million baht to secure her temporary release. Friends of the family said Amy was stressed as she contemplated her fate while pining for the cat she raises.

The 2006 Miss Teen Thailand winner and her boyfriend were arrested in Sai Mai district last Tuesday after police found them with 17 grammes of methamphetamine, 16 ecstasy pills and drug-taking paraphernalia including weighing scales.

The raid on Amy’s house follows the earlier arrest of a man identified only as “Nat” who police say was caught in Lat Phrao district with the drug ice and implicated Mr Punyawat as his supplier.

Reports say police tracked Mr Punyawat to a Samrong pub where he acts as marketing manager, where they allegedly found him in possession of drugs.

He told police he had moved into his girlfriend’s house. Police arrested him and Amy there. Later at the police station, a dishevelled, thin-looking Amy apologised to society for messing with drugs, and insisted she was a user only, not a dealer.

Amy said a friend outside the industry introduced her to drugs, and she had been taking them for about a year to relieve stress. She had been seeing her boyfriend for just two months.

On Thursday, a tearful Amy was transported in a police van from Sai Mai district to Min Buri. Mr Punyawat, who accompanied her, told police the drugs found at Amy’s house belonged to a friend, and he was merely looking after them.

Police say a subsequent arrest puts his claims in doubt. As the probe expanded further, police arrested Natcha “Punch” Jampasang, 34, for possession of 14 bottles of ketamine, 8g of ice and two ecstasy pills.

She told police she sells goods online and had known Mr Punyawat for about a year. She claimed the pair were suppliers who obtained their drugs from a big-time agent who is also a friend of Mr Punyawat’s. 

“We are at the same level in the dealing chain and borrow from each other if we run out,” she allegedly told police.

Mr Punyawat told police his friend Nat, whose arrest in Lat Phrao sparked the probe, had asked him for drugs for his own use but then tried to sell them, resulting in his arrest. The “buyer” was an undercover policeman. “While I was in custody, Punch sent me a Line message asking for some drugs. The police laid a trap and caught her,’’ he said.

Mr Punyawat added that if he has to serve time in prison with his friend he is likely to be killed or harmed, as his friend has enemies in there.

Amy, who earned her fame as star of the popular Channel 7 drama Thida Wanorn (Monkey Daughter), appeared last year in the Channel 3 series The Cupids. Her career was in tatters a mere 24 hours after the arrest saga broke, with her boss at Broadcast Thai Television, Arunocha “Nong” Panupan, abruptly ending her contract, which still had a year to run.

On social media, netizens have pointed to a television interview Amy gave in August last year in which she denied claims she was involved in drugs. 

Explaining a lull in her career after her early Thida Wanorn fame, in which critics claimed she had turned to drugs to make ends meet, she said: “I don’t know where the rumours came from, but after they emerged dad ask me to leave the industry. The rumours also said I had a boyfriend selling ya ba, and that I used drugs to lure people into the industry. Who’s bought drugs from me? I have never had any trouble with drugs,” she told her hosts. 

The police probe continues.

Kong’s little help from his friend

Suphawut

Kong

Thai futsal star Suphawut Thueanklang is earning praise for lending 1,000 baht to overnight Isan singing star Kong Huayrai back when he was a struggling musician.

Kong, a rags-to-riches story from Sakon Nakhon who worked as a PR man for a beauty clinic and busker before finding fame as a recorded artist, singled out his friend Suphawut for praise on television last week.

“Suphawut gave me 1,000 baht one day when I had nothing, to help me find a place to live. I got in touch later to ask if he wanted anything, and he said no, he did it from his heart,” Kong said.

Kong, also known as Akkharadet Yodjumpa, found fame with the sleeper Isan hit Sai Wa Si Bo Thim Kan and Isan ballad Koo Kongfor the popular Channel 3 soap Nakee. He is now branching out into acting.

Contacted in Turkmenistan where he was playing with the national futsal team, Suphawut said he met Kong a few years ago when he was performing in eateries to make ends meet.

“One day he left his girlfriend and didn’t have a single baht or place to rest his head. He came to me for advice. I consulted my girlfriend and lent him the money to help him get back on his feet,” he said.

“Today he has success and a good name, but he hasn’t forgotten me. We still keep in touch. I know him as a fighter and strives for things in life,” he said.

After initially telling reporters he did not expect the money back, Suphawut later changed his mind, joking on Kong’s Facebook that he could always cast his friend, Kritsada Wongkaew, also captain of the futsal team, as lead in his next music video. “It’s done!” Kong replied.

Ble’s issue ‘blown out of proportion’

Ble

Isan singer Ble Patumrach R Siam says his manly equipment is respectable enough for an Asian youngster his age, denying he is trying to add to his fame with revealing crotch shots.

Ble apologised to his fans last week after a Facebook Live clip went wrong as the camera caught him adjusting himself.

Sharp-eyed fans pointed to his apparent bulging crotch as Ble, wearing skimpy boxer shorts, opened the clip, in which he auctioned shirts to help a flood-ravaged school in Amnat Charoen.

As someone reminds Ble that the camera is rolling and he might be showing too much, he hurriedly grabs a cushion to cover himself. However, fans shared it widely, with the clip ending up on gay forums and admirers asking him on social media if he was sure he was straight.

Ble, who is about to enter the monkhood briefly before joining the military as a conscripted soldier next month, said he wanted to clear the air before taking the saffron robes.

“I wasn’t trying to gain a bigger name for myself by showing off my crotch, as I do not want fame that way,” he said.

“I may not be as big as a farang, but I am an Asian, so I have enough to go around. Some compare my crotch to a bamboo tube with sticky rice (bang khao lam). However, that was just a reflection of the light off my shorts.

“I am just a poor kid from Isan. I have had to go through a lot to get here, including writing and producing my own music.

“One day if I have a girlfriend I don’t want her to love me because of my crotch. Even if I got rich this way I wouldn’t be happy. I have grown up with music and good instruction from my parents.”

Ble’s fans have flooded Facebook with words of encouragement, urging him to look beyond the fuss.