The old body-in-the car ruse
A Ratchaburi garbage collector fell victim to a car workshop owner's scheming ways when he was killed and his body set alight as part of a plot to get the owner off an attempted murder charge.
Police on July 1 announced the arrest of Thitinan Phusuwan, 43, owner of a small business making car seats in Chom Bung district, for intentionally killing garbage collector Plian Seechompoo, 54, and setting his body alight on July 26 at his workshop.
Thitinan, a local hothead who had shot a villager in a fit of rage last year, was awaiting court sentence on a charge of attempted murder.
Earnings from the workshop having dried up during the pandemic, in a flight of fancy he decided to stage his own death to get off the court case, and ensure the return of 500,000 baht in bail surety which his family had put up to secure his release while awaiting sentencing. He also hoped a life insurance company would pay out after his death, ensuring his family was comfortable even if he was no longer around.
Thitinan had earlier attempted to take his life while in remand prison awaiting sentence, prompting his family to rustle up a mortgage as surety to get him out of jail.
He was to be sentenced on Aug 18.
However, the suspect, evidently fearing he would be jailed for the shooting last year, decided to stage his own death first. When he came upon Plian fossicking around for old scraps on July 23, he lured him for a drink and attacked him with a crowbar until he was dead.
Plian, who lived with a nephew and his family, was described as a gentle, unassuming type who kept to himself. He did not drink or gamble and led a quiet life.
Thitinan, police say, might have assumed he had no kin and if he disappeared no one would notice. In fact, relatives were to report him missing on July 27 after he failed to return home.
As part of the plot, Thitinan called his elder sister, Kwanruen Bunmee, to say the gas tank which powered his Citroen had developed a problem and he would take it in for repairs. His sister warned him against messing with the gas tank and she did not hear from him again.
On July 26, a vehicle fire was reported at his workshop. When it died down police found the body of a man behind the driver's wheel of the burnt-out Citroen, which Thitinan had bought just the month before.
It appeared to have crashed into another vehicle, igniting the gas tank. Relatives identified the remains as Thitinan's and took his body for funeral rites.
Ratchaburi police commander, Pol Maj Gen Anuphap Srinuan, said oddities in the case started to emerge which led police to dig further.
He said the gas tank was not connected to the engine, which put the lie to Thitinan's claims that the gas supply had developed a problem. Thitinan's motorcycle was also missing. Police recalled that Plian's relatives had reported the man missing and concluded the body in the vehicle might belong to him.
Chom Bung police commander Pol Col Wairoj Nannphimai said police asked for a DNA sample from Plian's relatives. The sample matched the remains found in the vehicle, confirming their suspicions that the "accident" had been staged.
Police later checked CCTV footage and found Thitinan riding his motorcycle towards Ban Kha, Ratchaburi. They arrested him at a friend's place there. After all-night questioning, he admitted killing Plian in a plot to stage his own death.
His shocked sister, Kwanruen, said funeral rites at Nong Bua Kai temple in Chom Bung had been going just one night when police asked her to stop. Her brother, they said, was not the victim of a fire but was in fact a murderer. The remains they were about to cremate were not his but those of an innocent man.
Police, who are earning praise from netizens for their sharp detective work, have charged Thitinan with premeditated murder and concealing a body.
City thief gets just deserts
A Bangkok woman put up a spirited fight after a stranger lured her into his car with the spurious claim she had dropped her purse at the mouth of the soi.
The woman, aged 30, complained to Suthisan police on Aug 1 saying the man had lured her into his Honda Civic as she headed home by foot into soi Lat Phrao 18, sub-soi 2, Chatuchak at 10.30pm.
The man, wearing a face mask, pulled up alongside her, opened the vehicle window and claimed she had dropped her purse at the head of the soi. He had seen a passerby pick it up and offered to take her back to retrieve it. "I know this area and it's dangerous at night," he said, urging her to get into his car.
The woman, who noticed her bag was open and realised she might well have lost her money, accepted his offer. However, when they passed the mouth of the soi he kept going, heading towards Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, and refused her requests to stop. She tried to call a friend for help, without success.
"He started trying to have his way with me, put his arms around my throat and grabbed my bag. I put up a fight, and kicked the steering wheel in the hope he would lose control of the vehicle," she told police.
The offender managed to turn left into soi Vibhavadi 22. About 10 metres inside the soi, she landed a few more well-delivered blows with her foot, sending the man slumped down by the footrest in pain.
"As he opened the door, I seized this moment to squeeze into the back of the vehicle and fled through a rear door, spraining my ankle," she said. The victim left behind her handbag and iPhone 7, though the driver later abandoned them in the soi as he made his escape towards Lat Phrao Road.
The woman called out for help and a genuine good samaritan came to her aid, taking to the station where she laid her complaint. Police, who are warning against walking in isolated parts of town at night, are checking CCTV cameras.
Getting high on Grab
Netizens are praising the actions of a deaf Grab taxi driver who showered his passenger with attention, prompting the young man to sing his praises in a social media post.
Opiium Kangwansura
Netizen Opiium Kangwansura, who lives in Pattaya, said he called a Grab taxi on July 30 as he was in a hurry. Normally he would take the bus but worried he would not get to his destination on time.
Grab advised him the driver was deaf, and when the man arrived he thought about cancelling, as he worried about whether he could get across the directions and what would happen if vehicles honked at him in the traffic. However, he decided to give him a go.
Opiium said he was impressed with the driver's manners. The driver, who announced his arrival in a message on the Grab app, signalled that he wanted to spray Opiium's hands with alcohol disinfectant. Opiium duly extended his hands to be sanitised.
The driver then offered him a motorcycle safety helmet, along with a cover for his hair.
"I was confused, but the driver shook his head to signal he was worried that if I did not wear it, I may mess up my fringe hair-do," he said. Opiium said he gave the driver a smile and thanked him.
Hair arrangements sorted out, he climbed on the back. "The driver didn't go too fast or too slow. He dodged vehicles and accelerated the same way anyone would."
He left the parting message: "If anyone ends up with a Grab taxi who is deaf, and your directions are not so complicated you have to tell him where to go the whole way, try taking the ride.
"Everyone in the Covid-19 era is looking for ways to make an income to support themselves." Netizens praised Opiium and his driver for being such a cute pair.
