Not Quite THE NEWS
Buddhist Lent has already started, but unsold supplies still sit outside the JU shop in Chachoengsao. |
Taking a rest in her husband's car proved to be a very costly exercise for one woman recently.
Amnuay Pokpong woke up in the vehicle, which was parked in the Criminal Court compound on Ratchadaphisek road, only to find her handbag was gone.
Her husband Wattana Khamsiri told Phahon Yothin police he had driven his pick-up truck from his home in Nonthaburi to the court to bail out a client facing a corruption charge.
Mrs Amnuay went with her husband, but decided to wait in the car rather than go into court because she was feeling unwell. Before she fell asleep, she placed her handbag on the seat beside her. Inside it was 210,000 baht in cash, two gold ornaments, a Somdej amulet and Jatukarm talisman, both with gold frames.
"My wife was ill, so she wanted to take a nap in the car," Mr Wattana told police investigator Pol Maj Somnuek Santipatanan.
"At about 2pm, my wife called to ask if I had taken the bag," he added. The couple soon realised the bag had been stolen and the only thing they could do was call the police.
Lent a lean period
Not everybody was happy over the Buddhist Lent period. Normally it is a boom time for shops which supply goods for monks, as Buddhists buy items - such as candles - to give to monks for merit-making.
But not this year, said Amaraporn Potjanasophanakul, the owner of the JU shop in Chachoengsao.
She complained of a downturn in business and blamed not only the weakened economy for falling sales - but also local children!
Monks' supplies usually fly off the shelves in the days leading up to Lent, said Ms Amaraporn.
But the rising cost of living was one reason for the stacks of unsold supplies still sitting outside her shop.
The other reason, she said, was because schools and Buddhist clubs have been promoting craftwork to their students, who have been making their own candles to offer to the monks, meaning they did not buy them from supply shops this year.
All that glitters ... You're never too old to learn - so long as your new pastime is legal. A man decided to start a new career as a gold robber at the age of 62, but his enterprise was short-lived as he was quickly nabbed by police.
Mud Lamsa was caught on Wednesday with a gold necklace worth about 8,000 baht in his pocket in Thung Song district of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
A divorcee, he said he stole the jewellery because he had hoped his three grown-up children would take care of him, but they had all left the family home. His elder son works as a public attorney, his second son is a teacher at a state school in Bangkok, while his daughter runs a plantation in nearby Trang province.
Gold shop owner Tueanjai Permpulchoke-kana, 65, said he entered the shop and asked to look at the gold necklace.
When she turned to talk to another customer, Mud ran away with the necklace. She ran after him and called for help. Luckily two police were nearby, and they arrested him.
One drink too many
It's not always a good idea for a couple to drink together. After a hard day at work, Preecha Wanta, 38, asked his wife, Saipin Pitakpai, to drink with him at the couple's rented apartment in Bangkok's Onnuj area.
Mrs Saipin, 45, was also worn out from work, so she did not hesitate to accept the invitation to relax over a few drinks. The couple talked and laughed as they shared stories and jokes.
But as the drinks flowed, the merry atmosphere suddenly turned sour as Preecha started complaining about his wife's jealous character.
Mrs Saipin said as she went to the kitchen to bring some more food, he tried to attack her with a knife. They started fighting and he was stabbed to death.
Police found a bloody kitchen knife near the body, with Mrs Saipin crying nearby. She had a 3cm-long cut on her left wrist.
Police said she was very drunk and her testimony was confusing.
More inquiries are needed to find out if she killed her husband, they said.
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