Druggie gets revenge, blue hair giveaway, oil fumes row

Grandson nurses grudge

A young drug addict in Lampang killed his granddad after he complained to the police when he set fire to his house, police say.

Ngao police last week arrested Nakhon Ahyi, 20, in Pong Tao, Ngao district, after he shot his grandfather Ahklong Ahmor, 67, through the floor of his house.

The pair lived there together though the old man would decamp during the day as he was afraid for his safety, family members say. However, he stuck it out with Nakhon, whom he loved dearly and had raised since the age of three.

The young man, released from prison less than two weeks before, was nursing a grievance after Ahklong complained to police early last month that Nakhon, in a drug-addled haze, had set fire to his home.

While they were able to save the house, Ahklong alerted the police to teach the lad a lesson. Family members say Nakhon has been flaring up at them in drug-fuelled rages since his early secondary schooling years.

Nakhon, who has been in trouble repeatedly for his drug habit, was jailed briefly after his granddad complained. Following his release, he laid a plan to get revenge.

From the concrete space underneath the house, he tapped on the wooden ceiling with a Thai-modified "cap" gun, which he knew would get the attention of his granddad who was in the room above.

When Ahklong shone a torch through the floorboards, Nakhon, a gun enthusiast, aimed upwards with his weapon and squeezed the trigger. The bullet passed cleanly through the floor and entered his granddad's eye.

Nakhon said he alerted a shopkeeper about what he had done before fleeing to a friend's house about 500m away where police arrested him.

News video shows the young man munching contentedly on a bag of chips as police cuffed his hands. He later took police through the family banana plantation to show them where he disposed of his weapon.

The young man's mother, Wannarat Yothin, 44, said she is shocked and not sure what to think. "I didn't think my son would do harm to someone who had cared for him since early childhood," she said.

Ms Wannarat, who has a new family, lives in a village nearby. Whenever she sees her son, he asks her for 200-300 baht, which she suspects is to feed his drug habit. He routinely lays waste to family furniture and takes off with his granddad's bike. However, he had never harmed his granddad before.

As he performed a crime reconstruction for police, her son mentioned another bone of contention. He complained that his granddad loved his own son more than he did him.

Ms Wannarat said the lad lost his grandmother at the end of last year. Previously, she also lived in the house along with Nakhon's uncle, the couple's youngest child.

"When my mother died of cancer, that left my dad, his son, and Nakhon. My brother, aged 30, set fire to a hut in their field, damaging the place, but my father criticised Nakhon, not his own son; so Nakhon was angry from that time onwards," she said.

Her younger sister, Waleelak Ahmor, 35, also a neighbour in the victim's family compound, said she was making a meal at 6pm when she heard a gun go off, but she didn't think anything of it as Nakhon liked to fire his weapon a couple of times a day.

Ms Waleelak said she steps in as intermediary whenever there is some trouble between Nakhon and his granddad. "Whenever he flares up at dad, Nakhon comes to sleep at my place; it has been like this for 10 years," she said. "My dad liked to complain but he did it out of love for Nakhon."

The young man was in tears as he alerted a shopkeeper following the shooting. They have charged the young man with the killing.

Hair colour tips off cops

A young man's penchant for dyeing his hair bright colours has led to his arrest for robbery.

Crime Suppression Division police, joined by officers from Suthisan station, last week nabbed Supachok "James" Saleeso, 20, in Klong Toey after he had robbed a woman at a city hostel.

Media reports say the complainant, who alerted police on Feb 18, recalled Mr James' bright green hair. He made off with a spare key from the hostel in the Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai area in which she lives and helped himself to occupants' belongings, stealing goods worth 40,000 baht.

Police tracked him down to the Hua Kong community in Klong Toey, by which time he was wearing bright blue hair. Inquiries revealed victims had laid complaints at a handful of stations, all of them mentioning his trademark unusual hair colour.

Officers say he deploys various tricks such as applying to work at hostels, or even moving into them, before stealing from their occupants.

He also likes to befriend women and gays on dating sites, meet for a meal or sleep with them, before taking off with their phones and other valuables. He posts ads on social media to sell the stolen goods.

Media reports say Mr James changes hair colour to evade detection. However, in this case, his unusual hair colour also led to his capture when police noticed him walking in the Hua Kong community.

Checks revealed victims had earlier complained to police in Dusit (one case), Min Buri (1), Phahon Yothin (2), Pracha Chuen (1), Suthisan (1) about being robbed by a youngster with brightly coloured hair. Police charged him with theft.

The deep-fried batter wars

A deep-fried donut trader in Rayong has gone to police after a partially-sighted masseur from a nearby shop tossed a bag of excrement into her shop.

Waraporn "Nid" Petchprasert, 46, owner of the Thai-style Chinese donut (patongo) stand, is locked in a feud with the owner of the traditional Thai massage shop, Ploy Charoensuk, 48.

Ms Ploy, who is blind in one eye, gets upset about the smell of Ms Nid's cooking oil drifting into her shop. They are street-level neighbours in a two-storey commercial building in Muang district.

The pair, once friends, fell out after Ms Nid cautioned Ms Ploy about walking on the road, as she was worried she would not see oncoming traffic. Ms Ploy took offence, thinking her friend was being critical.

The dispute escalated with Ms Ploy warning her to do something about the cooking oil odour or she would attend to the problem herself, which she did on Feb 21, when she threw the bag of excrement into the shop.

Ms Nid said faeces landed on the ground, the board on which she kneads her flour, a cooker where she makes soya milk, and even her wok.

"The flour was ruined, and I also had to change the cooking oil, which I do anyway every Monday," she said. One news report made light of the incident, saying the massage shop owner was wishing her a happy Monday by smearing faeces everywhere.

"I had to spend 2,000 baht that day fixing the damage but sold goods worth just 200 baht, so I complained to Muang police," she said. "She has also thrown a brick at my shop after we argued in the past."

When police turned up and went to talk to Ms Ploy, she locked the door of her shop and refused to meet them.

Talking to the media, Ms Ploy said she went down that morning to take a look at the shop when she heard Ms Nid shouting at her.

"Later she took some oil and poured it in front of my window, and threw cardboard rice containers at my shop. She has also poured dirt in front of my home.

"I have called the 191 hotline before but the police told me to put in a CCTV camera or move away, which is not what I wanted to hear...police should give better advice than that," she said.

"Both sides are trying to work, so let's see who can carry on the longest. The person who should come and apologise is her," she said, referring to Ms Nid.

Ms Nid said she would get an extractor fan installed to suck the cooking oil odours away, for the sake of a quiet life.

However, she asked why none of her other neighbours had complained and urged Ms Ploy through the media not to twist the facts.