Stashed in his robes
A Maha Sarakham druggie who had been ordained as a monk for two days brought a lively drug trade with him to his new life at the temple.
Officials from the Maha Sarakham provincial administration raided his monk's hut and seized over 1,000 methamphetamine pills.
Known as Phra A, 36, in the media, he was posing as a monk to sell drugs to youngsters, they say.
The special operations team who nabbed A found drugs hidden in his robes and his hut at the temple in Phayakkhaphum Phisai district.
The arrest followed complaints from residents that the monk, a new arrival who was thought to be fleeing the law, was using the temple as a place to sell methamphetamine to teens.
When officials turned up at his hut, they found Phra A trying to escape through a window.
The officials were able to apprehend him. During their search, 31 pills were found hidden within his robes, with a search of his hut turning up a further 1,200 pills.
He was disrobed as a monk and charged with peddling drugs.
Police say checks on his record found he was a major drug dealer in the area, and fighting drug-related charges in court after being arrested late last year.
Reporters say that while officials were detaining him, Phra A's relatives and wife were crying and embracing each other, saying they had warned him not to engage in such activities again, but he ignored them.
Let's try that again
A heartbroken Surat Thani man who threw a bomb at his ex-girlfriend's kin after failing to reconcile lost his life when it went off in his hand.
Scene of the bomb blast where a Surat Thani man lost his life.
Tha Chana district rescuers found the body of Surapong Thongnak, or "Bob", 35, lying face down at a house, the blast having taken his life and injuring four others, who were taken to hospital.
Police inquiries revealed Surapong had gone to the house to reconcile with his girlfriend, Kalyanrapas "Tak" Sawakhan, 27, who knew the owners and was staying there temporarily.
Neighbours and relatives were sitting outside drinking coffee when he entered the house and, following an argument, stabbed Ms Tak with a pair of scissors. When the folks gathered outside intervened, he returned to his car to retrieve an M26 grenade.
He removed the safety pin and threw it at them. It bounced towards the group but failed to detonate. Reports say he went to pick it up to toss it again, but fate intervened when it exploded first, resulting in his death from head and hand injuries.
Saiyan (no surname given), among those sitting outside, said the situation between Surapong and Tak escalated after a misunderstanding.
Surapong's mother, Ranjuan, 58, said she called her son at 3am to ask where he was.
Surapong, who owned a motorcycle repair shop and rented a place nearby, told her he was going to see his girlfriend, and she thought no more of it until she heard later that he had died.
He and Ms Tak had been dating for just two months, she said, but had fallen out. Ms Tak had gone to the house to seek shelter from him, news reports said.
Police are searching for the source of the grenade thrown by Surapong, and also pursuing a drugs-related lead. A search of his vehicle turned up over 500 grammes of methamphetamine inside.
Cheers to that
A young Liverpool fan took to selling firearms to raise money to celebrate the team's Premier League championship win but was caught first.
Sulipon is caught after trying to sell a handgun to police.
The Special Operations Division caught Sulipon, or Owen (no surname given), 29, as he tried to sell undercover officers a .380 calibre handgun for 18,000 baht.
They arranged to meet in an alley opposite a temple in Bo Thong district of Chon Buri. Earlier, police uncovered someone trying to sell firearms in a public group on Facebook, which had over 20,000 members.
When police infiltrated the group, they contacted a Facebook user named "Oven Ven" to buy a firearm, and he arranged to meet them.
Sulipon arrived on a motorcycle and police identified themselves to conduct a search. They found the handgun, seven rounds of .380 ammunition and one magazine.
Sulipon, who comes from Laos, said he had been working in Thailand as a general labourer for about 8–9 years and had a keen interest in firearms.
He joined the Facebook group selling guns, saw an opportunity to make money and began trading firearms, earning a profit of 3,000–5,000 baht per item. He had earlier bought the gun which he offered to the police for 15,000 baht.
He said he was a big fan of the Liverpool Football Club, even adopting the nickname "Owen" while in Thailand, named after former Liverpool striker Michael Owen.
He had planned to spend the proceeds from the firearm sale on beer to celebrate the team's Premier League championship, but was caught by police before he could do so.
Police charged him with firearms charges.
Brutal parting of ways
A Pattaya woman's claims to have been robbed by teens came apart after police examined CCTV images and turned up no trace of the culprits.
Rattana: Made up the story
Rattana (no surname given), 37, a sales employee at a shopping centre, complained to Bang Lamung police that she was followed by three teens on a motorcycle while returning home on May 25.
When she reached the area near the Soi Siam Country Club, the assailants approached, brandishing a weapon to threaten her and demanding cash of over 30,000 baht and an engagement ring worth more than 50,000 baht, she said.
However, when police reviewed CCTV footage from her home to her work, covering a distance over 5–6km, no suspects were found.
Police began to rigorously question Rattana, who showed signs of stress and asked to step outside for a cigarette break several times.
Eventually, she admitted fabricating the incident because she had actually lost her boyfriend's savings of 30,000 baht while working.
Fearing a conflict with her foreign boyfriend, she made up the robbery story to give herself an excuse, not realising it would escalate into such a big deal.
Reports say her foreign boyfriend immediately broke up with her when the truth came out.
Nevertheless, Rattana said she wanted to apologise to the public for the incident, which had harmed Pattaya's tourism.
Bang Lamung police chief, Pol Col Sarawut Nuchnarot, said officers charged Rattana with making false statements, and said he wanted tourists to know that Pattaya remains a safe and attractive destination.
