Security personnel were deployed in Ban Kok Paha village of Mae Ramat district in Tak province on Sunday after locals expressed fear that a Myanmar man obsessed with killing animals and devouring them might return.
Local authorities are in Ban Kok Paha border village in Tak on Sunday to restore local morale. (Photo by Assawin Pinitwong)
Tak governor Somchai Hathayatanti sent defence volunteers and soldiers to the village when local people and monks said they were afraid Myanmar man Mokhalai, 25, would return to the neighbourhood.
The Karen man was recently arrested for killing dogs and chickens, chopping up the carcasses and eating the raw meat in a toilet at a local temple, Wat Pamai 5. Authorities later released him and sent him back across the Moei River to Myanmar.
Soldiers and volunteers met Phra Athikan Sahas Phathraphuttho, the abbot of the temple, on Sunday. The abbot said villagers and monks were afraid Mr Mokhalai could return and they dare not stay outdoors at night.
Allegedly flesh-eating Myanmar Mokhalai arrested in Tak recently (Photo by Assawin Pinitwong)
Villager Paithoon Kaesinual said villagers feared the man would attack some of the 30 local children as authorities had neither prosecuted nor detained him as a mental patient.
Pantip Charnthindong, assistant chief of Mae Ramat district, said Mr Mokhalai might be a former soldier who had been trained to eat anything for survival. Mae Ramat authorities and volunteers are patrolling the village daily to ensure safety and boost morale, he said.