Arm falls to ground, fight carries on
A Prachuap Khiri Khan teen kept slashing away at a man with a pineapple knife as they fought on a street, even after he severed his right arm completely.
Ta (in blue) and Somchai fighting it out.
CCTV images capture the fight between Ta (no other names given), 18, and his mother's former husband, Somchai (no surname given), 54, outside the teen's family eatery in Muang district on Jan 6.
Ta advanced on Somchai, stabbing him repeatedly, even after the older man lost his right arm, which fell limply to the ground in front of him.
Locals filming the clash from a grocery shop opposite let off cries of "Oh! He's lost his arm!" as his limb was severed, and tried to call over the young man to get him to stop.
Somchai kept fighting too, despite the dramatic loss of his limb, until he could bear the weight of injuries no longer.
He staggered to the front of the grocery store where he collapsed. Rescue workers sent him to hospital where he was treated for his injuries.
As well as losing his arm, Somchai's ear was severed, and his head, neck and shoulder suffered serious injuries.
Doctors at Prachuap Khiri Khan Hospital said they could not reattach his arm, as they lacked the expertise. The news has upset his family, who say he is their main bread-winner.
The two started fighting after a drunken Somchai, a public health officer of Prachuap Khiri Khan municipality, abused Ta and his father by birth after the young man asked him to quieten down.
Reports differ was to whether they knew each other, with the eatery's owner (Somchai's former wife, by whom he has a daughter) saying they didn't, and Somchai's own wife insisting they did, many years ago.
Ta was sleeping on the second storey of his stepmother's hot pot eatery when Somchai and a drinking friend started kicking up a racket outside.
Somchai was drinking at a bench outside the shop that morning but when he saw his former wife, Ning, 47, heading outdoors, asked if he and his mate could drink inside.
Fatefully perhaps, she agreed. "He was a former customer so I let him come inside to carry on drinking while I went out," Ning told reporters. She and Somchai had ended their relationship years ago.
When she returned, the fight was over and her ex-husband had lost his arm.
"Ta came over to apologise and said while Somchai was drinking he was talking loudly," she said.
He was sleeping above the shop and asked Somchai to quieten down. That upset Somchai, leading to a challenge. Ta grabbed the pineapple knife and started slashing.
Ning took her son to the police, who charged him with assault causing serious bodily harm.
Pol Col Phaitoon Promkean, police chief at Muang station, said additional charges may be laid against the young man after police have questioned Somchai. Police are also waiting on an injury report from the doctor.
If the doctor says the injuries were serious enough to lead to death, Ta could also face a charge of attempted murder.
Doctors stitched the wounds on Somchai's head, neck, and shoulder, and re-attached the ear, but could do nothing about the arm.
Meanwhile, Somchai's wife, Somjai, 56, said her husband would now be disabled for the rest of his life. Ta's response was excessive, she said, urging police to prosecute to the full extent of the law.
Her husband and Ning, the shop owner, were married years ago and have a daughter, she said.
Ning later remarried and had two more children before divorcing her second husband and marrying a third, with whom she had her son, Ta.
As for her, she has a school-aged child with Somchai.
With Somchai's arm severed and him facing disability, she is uncertain about their future work prospects and would need to consult her husband's supervisor.
Auntie denies late career switch
A Lampang rubber tapper in her 50s found with a huge stash of ya ba pills and a small armoury of weapons at her house denies claims she had carved out a second career as a dealer.
Wanida looks sad as she faces the prospect of arrest.
Wanida (no surname given), 56, admitted she takes small amounts of ya ba to keep her awake while she is working, but the other drugs and guns were left there by someone else.
District chiefs and local security officials nabbed Wanida at her worker's house in tambon Ban Ueam of Muang district. They found an impressive 8,000 methamphetamine pills and four handguns there after hearing from locals that she was supplying drugs.
The search team found the pills buried in a tin can near the toilet and along the side of the house, and yet another stash secreted under the roof of a chicken coop.
They also turned up drug taking gear, and in the bedroom found an unregistered gun, along with two Thai-modified cap guns.
However, Aunty Wanida, as the Thai media called her, is taking it all in her stride, saying only five of the pills were hers.
She takes them to keep her awake as she is toiling in the rubber plantation, she said. The other contraband was left by another worker in the plantation, she claimed.
Aunty Wanida was no doubt hoping to take advantage of a recent softening in the Thai drug law, reversed last June, in which suspects found with five pills or less could be diverted to non-custodial options such as rehab.
In June, the government, stung by an increase in the number of users, toughened the law to lower the limit to just one pill.
Media images showed "aunty", perhaps realising the game was up, sitting on the cement floor with her head leaning sadly against the door as police searched her place.
Police dispute her claims of being a mere user, as her shady activities as a dealer had led to locals' complaints, they said. Ban Ueam police were mulling charges.
Not your typical village trade
A Nakhon Sawan man nabbed for selling home-made weapons hidden in snack cans shocked police when he told them the whole village is selling illegal arms, not just him.
Napatsakorn is nabbed with guns hidden in his snack boxes, inset.
Metropolitan Police on Jan 6 arrested Napatsakorn (no surname given), or "Oat Nong E-Teng," 23, near Nong E-Teng village in Phayuha Khiri district as he was delivering two snack cans.
They had staked out his place for two days after hearing the village was a hotspot for the supply of Thai-modified guns, an enterprise so big that some reports likened it to an Otop (One Tambon One Product) scheme.
Initially, the suspect claimed he was merely delivering snacks, but when the police opened a can and poured out its contents, they discovered two Thai-modified firearms among the candy inside.
He admitted the offence, adding the entire Nong E-Teng village was involved in the illegal gun trade.
As if to bear out his claims, a sticker on the windscreen of his pickup shows a bulldog holding two semi-automatics, with a pile of gold and currency in front.
It is emblazoned with the village's name and a few pithy words below: "Up to you, boss." Reports said the sticker was included in weapons deliveries as part of the village's branding efforts.
Napatsakorn said he was unsure when the illicit trade started, but the village had been selling weapons for as long as he could remember.
In the past, customers would pick up the weapons on the road outside the village. Now, villagers, abreast of developments in transport delivery, use parcel delivery services, he said.
"Villagers keep an eye on the news, and whenever there is a crackdown on illegal firearms, they stop selling temporarily," he added.
If strangers enter the area, someone sounds the alarm, and they hide the evidence. Police find nothing, and services resume soon after, with weapons fanning out across the country.
Pol Lt Gen Theeradech Thamsuthee, head of investigations at the MPB, said the operation followed the arrest of some key illegal arms dealers.
Jirawat "Somkhol" Champasak, a major illegal gun dealer from Suphan Buri, was nabbed on Dec 26, 2024.
Following that arrest, police discovered the illegal firearms were originating from Nong E-Teng village in Phayuha Khiri district and turned their attention there.
The village was "closed off", he agreed, with a network of informants alerting suppliers to any outsiders.
That impeded the probe until police learned that a "young man with a beard" (Napatsakorn) was taking firearms produced in the village to customers outside.
On Jan 5, the suspect left his house in his pickup. Police, who had been hiding in bushes nearby, nabbed him at a petrol station.
Police charged Napatsakorn with firearms offences, and sent him to Phayuha Khiri station for further legal action.
