Better than the 7-11
Anu Boonklansorn is nabbed for killing Pornthep
Pornthep saw Mr Anu trimming a marijuana plant in front of a local’s house and, disregarding his wife’s advice to say nothing, asked the man what he was doing.
“Who the hell are you?” Mr Anu, who has been treated for a psychiatric condition which his family says is aggravated by his drug habit, responded.
The victim’s wife, Siriporn Singkhan, 37, who is eight months pregnant, said Mr Anu lunged at her with his knife. Her husband sped up on his motorcycle to avoid trouble, but a few metres down the road lost his balance and tipped over.
Mr Anu charged over and again lunged for Ms Siriporn with his knife, but her husband pushed her out of harm’s way and took the blow himself. He was stabbed in the chest and died later from his injuries.
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| The marijuana plant |
The marijuana tree is owned by Chamroon Poolsawat, 47, who said he has been growing cannabis since the government loosened up the rules.
“I grow it to share with locals, who cut a bit of it for themselves regularly. We use it to add to food, not to sell commercially or smoke,” he said.
“I had been talking to someone just the night before about cutting down the tree as strangers keep turning up helping themselves. It wasn’t doing much good to anyone and I was worried about safety issues.
“However, I didn’t have time to do anything about it when this incident occurred,” he added.
Neighbours told him that Mr Anu was among those who turned up and without asking anyone helped himself.
Mr Anu lives 200m away and wanders up and down the street talking to himself, locals say. His family says he has been treated for a psychiatric condition fuelled by his drugs habit but refuses to take his meds.
Police took 50 officers to surround his place and arrest him. When he saw them he climbed onto the roof of a neighbour’s house, armed with knife and still smoking marijuana.
Police tried to talk him down and had to apply electric shocks to subdue him, as he refused to relent.
Much to the surprise of the police arresting him, the suspect asked them as they subdued him if they sold weed. Officers searching his place say they found a “huge” amount of marijuana, a pot for distilling ganja juice, and kratom.
His mother, unnamed in news reports, said Mr Anu had been treated at Somdet Chao Phraya Hospital but asked to move to Bang Phli Hospital which is closer to home.
“For the past two years he refuses to take his drugs, and just lately has been taking drugs every day,” she said.
“He started to show signs that his condition was worsening a couple of months ago. However, he has never gone crazy or hurt people before,” she added.
Neighbours said he is often seen clutching a knife as he walks up and down. “We complain and the cops grab him but release him a few days later. He had also threatened to kill a kid,” one told the media.
Police charged him with murder with intent.
It just happened to go off
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| Police inspect the house and its surroundings. |
Wat Bot police nabbed Paitoon, 35, for shooting his brother Denchai, 41, with a Thai-modified cap gun at their family home. He tossed his weapon and fled the scene into a nearby forest, where officers caught him. They retrieved the weapon nearby.
The pair had been out drinking separately that night and came home drunk, says their mother, Chanhom, 63.
She was taking a shower when she heard them argue, but as they scrap all the time she paid little notice. Then she heard the gun go off. “I dressed in a hurry, in time to see Paitoon fleeing the house without a word,” she said.
The latest argument concerned the farm truck they use to deliver cassava locally. “One brother will accuse the other of failing to take proper care of it, or failing to refill the tank,” she said.
Ms Chanhom, who has three children, says her daughter works in the provinces.
The boys earlier left home to start a family but when their marriages ended came back about six months ago, when their arguments also resumed.
Mr Paitoon admitted the pair argued before the shooting. He said he pulled out his gun, but his elder brother wrested it off him.
“He cursed me, accusing me of trying to kill him. Moments later Denchai was having a meal when I picked up my gun to put it in my bag when it accidentally went off,” the suspect told police.
Mr Paitoon said he had told his brother he was heading into the forest when the gun discharged. “I saw my brother fall, panicked and fled,” he said.
Police say the bullet entered the victim’s neck.
However, officers say they also noticed injuries to Denchai’s forehead and head, and bruising to the chest, which suggests he was hit with a solid object, possibly the barrel of the weapon.
Pol Maj Gen Thawat Wongsanga, head of the provincial police, said the wound is consistent with the weapon being held at an angle.
“The suspect can say what he likes, but we have charged him initially with murder with intent and await the results of tests,” he said.
Too good a trade to give up
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| Suwan is nabbed for stealing motorcycles. |
However, once he was released he returned to his old offending habit, claiming the vehicle trade was the only one he knew. Chalerm Prakiat police last week nabbed Suwan, 51, for stealing motorcycles and sending them across the border for 2,000 baht each.
He said he needed money to care for his ageing father, though he also admitted spending on a gambling habit. Officers say he was stealing locals’ bikes parked at flea markets in Krasang, Prakhon Chai, and Nong Ki districts.
Suwan was earlier jailed four years ago for stealing pushbikes and motorcycles and selling them across the border. Back then he said he needed the money to treat his own gout condition. He stole 40 bikes, and was sent away for nine months.
“While inside, he turned teacher, instructing inmates how to fix motorcycle engines. However, when he came out he went back to his old tricks,” one officer involved in the latest arrest said.
Suwan said there’s probably no work he can do better than stealing bikes, so keeps returning to it.
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