Brief killing interlude
A young man addicted to drugs brutally killed his grandmother before returning to hand-washing his clothes as if nothing happened.
Weluwan police in Khon Kaen last week nabbed Phumiphat "Chokul" Thasa, 18, after he attacked his grandma, Mayuri "Joi" Sopawong, 63, with a chopping knife in her bedroom.
The victim's husband and the young man's grandad, Wai Sopawong, 67, suspects Chokul broke into her bedroom to ask his grandma for money to feed his drug habit. When she refused, he cut her up with the knife.
Police say her body was covered in stab wounds. Her right eye had popped out, her right hand was almost chopped off, and all five fingers from her right hand cut off. The fingers from her left hand were almost severed.
After killing her, Chokul crossed the road and asked a neighbour to check on his grandma. Suwan Saenkul, 64, said he asked Chokul if he had hurt her.
"I asked him twice and he admitted he had. He had attacked her previously and she needed to spend two nights in hospital," he said. Mr Suwan took another neighbour into the house where they found grandma Joi's body lying on her bed.
When police arrived, they found Chokul placidly washing clothes at the back of the house, a job he had started the night before. Media images showed him being led away, his shirt buttoned up to his neck.
Mr Wai, who said his grandson has been addicted to ya ba since Matthayom 3, asks for 200-500 baht a day to buy drugs. Grandma Joi gives it to him, as she risked being attacked if she refused.
He said Chokul had attacked his grandma three times previously in drug-fuelled psychotic rages, and each time they had complained to police.
"They take him to rehab but when he comes out of hospital he is not willing to take his meds. I suspect he was taking ya ba again the night before as he did not sleep but spent the whole night washing clothes. When I saw him that morning he was quiet and still, and I didn't think he'd pose a threat.
"When I left home to work in the fields, I left the two alone. My wife went to her bedroom for a sleep and locked the door behind her as always. However, he prised open the lock."
Normally grandma Joi sells vegetables in the market and spends her free time with relatives in the village. However, on the day of the killing he had taken grandma Joi to the doctor about her diabetes complaint.
The two returned home for lunch and about 2pm he went out to the field to set traps. Chokul seized the moment to break into his grandma's room.
Mr Wai said Chokul had also attacked his own mother previously, forcing her and her new husband to move into a rented place nearby.
Chokul's mum, Maliwan Sopawong, 43, said her first husband, Chokul's father, died when the boy was aged seven. After that he started living with his grandparents.
She met someone new, and Chokul had no problems with him. However, Chokul's behaviour changed dramatically when he was studying at Matthayom level. He would beat her and his grandma regularly.
"I took my new husband to live somewhere else and asked my mother if she wanted to come but she didn't, as he was worried about Chokul. My husband had last-stage cancer and I was working at a Thai desserts shop, but I dropped in to see Chokul regularly," she said.
The police had called following Chokul's arrest, asking her to visit him at the station. "When he saw me, he asked, 'Mum, will I die?' I said I don't know, but all I ask is that you be a good lad, and he nodded," she said.
"Each time the police nab him, they take legal action and send him to rehab. However, under the law they can keep him only a month. It is hard to speak about what happened, as the victim is my Mum and I love them both.
"However, I hope that when he gets out of jail he can be a good boy again," Police charged him with murder.
Fist-fighters turn shooters
Seven youngsters have been arrested after two rounds of fist-fights ended in a double shooting fatality when the losing side decided to end the dispute the easy way by shooting their opponents.
Nonthakan "Mick" Pla-han, 18, had been shot twice in the chest and five times in the back, and his friend Puridech "Big" Srikampol, 25, shot in mouth, cheek, shoulder, ribs, and waist. Police found their bodies near Klong 8 behind Wat Thanyaphon in Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani, on Feb 28.
The pair were left in the middle of the road by their overturned Honda Wave motorcycle after a group of youngsters who had challenged Mick to a fist-fight, the second round that day after an earlier scrap outside a convenience store, opened fire when they realised the fight wasn't going their way.
Police rounded up seven suspects, who confessed to their role in the double shooting. The pair were killed with a shotgun and a .38 which the opposing gang had brought along with them. The group of seven turned up in a Honda Jazz and a motorcycle, with the shooters identified as the Jazz driver, Yutthana "Po" Pongsawang, 18, who shot Mick with the .38; and Jakkrit "Tao" Ineam, 23, who shot Big with the shotgun.
The two groups had a history of fighting and would challenge each other on social media. The ringleaders were Mick and Jiramet "Prem" Lertkrai, 18, who met outside a convenience store in the Klong 7 area about 7pm for a fist-fight in which Mr Prem found he couldn't hold his own.
Unable to accept defeat, he sent Mick a challenge on FB later that night asking for another round where the two once again went head-to-head.
Relatives warned Mick not to go as the other side was bound to be armed, but he still wanted to clear the air so set off with his friend Big. When they arrived at 10pm they saw Prem had turned up with six mates.
The two started fighting and Prem once again found he was being beaten. The "duel" disintegrated into a free-for-all after a friend of the victims staggered into Prem's group, setting off an argument. Tired of being on the losing end, the two shooters pulled out their weapons and shot Mick and Big before fleeing. Police had rounded up the last one, Tao, by Wednesday.
The youngest of the suspects is aged just 15. Lam Luk Ka police charged them with intentional killing, taking weapons into a public place, and having an unlicensed weapon.
Temporarily out of order
Security guards let off a cheer of relief after prodding what they thought was the dead body of a young man only to find he was still alive.
A TikTok user called @suwanratra last week posted a clip of the guard accompanied by apartment staff letting themselves into a tenant's room after his relatives had called seeking their help.
They said they had been calling the young man for hours and were worried something had happened to him.
The clip shows a guard, holding an iron baton, heading into the young man's bedroom. His body is covered by a duvet and he does not respond when the arriving party bellows out his name.
The guard, clearly worried about what gruesome sights the duvet may be concealing, pokes at the duvet gingerly with his baton, slowly peeling the duvet away from the man's body in several hesitant attempts.
It is only when he has managed to pull away the duvet completely that the young man responds.
He wakes up from what was evidently a deep sleep, looking confused but none the worse for wear. News reports suggested he may have been drinking.
As the guard and condo staff let off shouts of relief, the young man is seen groggily rising from his bed. Someone is heard thanking the guard for his valiant efforts.
