Handy drug hideaway, worker rises up, cycle of death

Like a rabbit from a hat

:The three suspects are seen following their arrest

A Khon Kaen woman loves her drug dealer husband so much she hid a stash of speed pills in her vagina to protect them from the prying eyes of police.

However, when police found drugs anyway, her ungrateful husband pretended to have no knowledge of them: “Hey, where did you get those drugs?” he asked, playing the innocent, and upsetting his mother-in-law who thinks he should have owned up.

Police in Ban Haet district last week raided a house and arrested three people for dealing. They seized 1,701 speed pills, including some secreted in unusual places.

When police arrived, Urairat Treesri, 30, claimed she needed to visit the toilet. A woman deputy security officer from the district was sent to accompany her, as police noticed oddities about her behaviour.

Under questioning, Ms Urairat admitted hiding drugs contraband in her vagina, and extracted two bags with 200 pills each and a ziplock bag with another four pills.

Confronted with the find, Ms Urairat’s husband, Thepnapa Nathewet, 46, a convicted drug offender who has served several spells inside, pretended to know nothing of their origins. He passed the buck to Ms Urairat ungallantly, despite her attempt to hide the goods to spare him further punishment.

Police tested his urine which came back positive for methamphetamine. They also tested Ms Urairat’s elder brother, Watcharakorn Niensiri, 35, also in the house. He too came back positive.

Ms Urairat, however, was in the clear. Police charged all three with drug possession with intent to supply, and Thepnapa and Mr Watcharakorn with taking the drug. Police expanded the probe and later arrested four drug-takers.

As well as the stash retrieved from inside Ms Urairat, police also found 612 pills in the bedroom — Thepnapa owned up to those drugs — and another 75 pills with Mr Watcharakorn.

Ms Urairat’s Mum, Pin Thongma, 54, said her daughter and Thepnapa had been together for years and had two children. She had stuck with him despite his spells inside jail.

When he was released most recently, she hoped they would steer clear of the illicit trade and settle down. They opened a noodle shop and bought a motorcycle with a sidecar.

However, the venture lasted just a couple of days before they gave it up.

“I warned them to stay away from drugs and Thepnapa promised he would avoid them,” she told reporters. “When the police knocked at the door and asked to search my son-in-law, I knew it would have to be drugs, because if they aren’t working, where is their income coming from?” she asked.

She said her daughter dilly-dallied before opening the door, no doubt taking advantage of this opportunity to hide her partner’s drug stash.

“When she let them in, she handed me their youngest child and said she was going to the toilet. The police asked to search her first and found the drugs.”

That’s when Thepnapa, feigning innocence, asked his wife where the drugs came from. She sat there crying, and said nothing.

“I am sure they belonged to him, not my daughter,” Ms Pin said, unamused by his duplicity. “If her partner did it, he should own up. At the very least, she would have to look after the kids when he is inside.”

In the event, both now face drug peddling charges. Ms Pin said she would seek her daughter’s bail. “She’s hopelessly in love. I don’t want to say too much as my daughter is now grown up and should be able to make up her own mind,” she said, referring to her poor choice of partner.

No love lost for selfish boss

The damaged vehicle

A Nakhon Si Thammarat man who smashed up his boss’ vehicles in a dispute over unpaid wages says the man’s own son and even the vehicle repairer lent him support.

Chatchawan Pimsen, 34, posted to social media a clip of him attacking two vehicles owned by his boss, a local builder, with an iron bar. It was followed shortly after by another clip in which he meekly takes the vehicles in for repairs, after his boss laid a police complaint.

While Mr Chatchawan is apologetic, he says the episode shows he is willing to take responsibility for his actions, unlike his boss, identified as Changchai. He says Changchai owes him 6,500 baht in labourer’s wages going back two months.

He had been to see Changchai at home three times, but he was never there, and refused to pick up his phone. On Dec 17, Mr Chatchawan reached the end of his patience, so attacked two vehicles he found parked there.

Chatchawan Pimsen

After Changchai called police, officers contacted Mr Chatchawan, telling him he faced the prospect of legal action if he did not get the vehicles repaired.

Mr Chatchawan decided he had made his point, so did as he was told. He posted to social media, saying: “Smash them up, I will have to get them repaired too.” He also posted a hashtag to the repair shop owner, thanking him for offering him such a good price.

Owner of the repair shop, Ratchanon Yordmongkol, 29, said Mr Chatchawan contacted him on Dec 20. When they met, Mr Chatchawan sat down and unburdened himself. “I laughed when I first saw the clip, but when I heard the guy’s story I decided it wasn’t a laughing matter at all,” he told reporters.

The damage was worth 20,000 baht but owing to the fact that he was once an employee himself and knows what it is like to be exploited, he offered Mr Chatchawan a special price of just 7,900 baht.

Mr Chatchawan said he also contacted Changchai’s son, who said many workers employed by Changchai were having to wait for their wages because the clients who had hired Changchai to build their homes had yet to pay up.

“But I went and asked the clients, who said Changchai was drawing down on the money they owed him...many hundreds of thousands of baht, in fact. However, he still wasn’t willing to pay his own workers,” he said.

Changchai, he said, was lavishing the money on a woman friend. “Before, he paid on time, but over the past three or four months started slipping on the dates.” Mr Chatchawan has worked for Changchai for the past year and a half.

Reporters visited Changchai’s place in Tha Sala district, and spoke to his son, who said his father hasn’t been home for the past week. Four or five people had turned up asking for unpaid wages. His father complained his business was in a bad way but he would try to pay them all in full.

However, his son, unnamed in news reports, agreed his father had squandered large amounts of money on his woman friend.

“My mother and I know about it, and my mother is stressed out. I am trying to support her. Before, Dad was well behaved; but his conduct has started to change over the past 1-2 years, and I believe the woman is to blame.”

The final word goes to Mr Chatchawan, who said Changchai needs to rethink his stance. “I want to pass on the message that there’s no one more important than staff, because when something goes wrong, they are always there to help.”

Deaths run in the family

Petch Lumsang

A Buri Ram woman says she feels put out that her husband of 18 years decided to take his own life, after his son took his own life before him.

Petch Lumsang, 63, said rescue workers dropped off the body of her husband, Chaliew Nakin, 53, for funeral rites at their home in Nang Rong after he stabbed himself to death on Dec 22.

Days earlier, she had dropped off her husband at the bus stop for a trip to Sa Kaew, where he attended the funeral of his son, Thawat Nakin, or Ekk, 29.

Ms Petch said she and her husband had no children together but Chaliew had a son and daughter from a previous relationship.

They had raised Ekk and his sister since both were young. When the kids grew up they left home, and Ekk found a job and wife in Rayong.

Chaliew Nakin

However, Ekk recently hanged himself out of pique that his wife liked going out too much and wouldn’t stay at home and look after the kids. His wife took his body back to her home province of Sa Kaeo for the funeral.

Ms Petch said Chaliew found the news hard to accept. She asked if she could take him to the funeral in Watthana Nakhon district. However, he refused, so they parted at the bus stop.

Later she heard that he had taken his own life. Chaliew stabbed himself in the chest as he declared before mourners that he wanted to join his son. It was the day of Ekk’s cremation.

Ms Petch said she feels put out herself now, and sorry for her husband that he felt he could not accept his son’s death, tragic as it was.