Man takes 4 Ya Ba pills and rides motorbike with no hands in Thailand

Police arrested a man in Nakhon Phanom, northeast Thailand, yesterday after a video of him riding his motorbike and swerving all over the road went viral on social media.

He admitted that he was high on four pills of Ya Ba (“crazy drug”) – a type of methamphetamine – when the clip was taken.

Officers from Nakhon Phanom Provincial Police Station quickly worked to identify the man in the video as they suspected he was high on methamphetamine and said he was a danger on the roads.

The police’s investigation identified the dangerous driver as a 51 year old man named Samranchai from the Tha Champa subdistrict in Tha Uthen district. Police travelled to the rubber plantation where Samranchai works to arrest him.

Samranchai looked “suspicious” when they arrived at the rubber plantation, said police. Police searched Samranchai and found methamphetamine, a Category 1 illicit narcotic, thoroughly hidden inside a blue magic marker pen tucked into Samranchai’s waistband.

He was detained for further investigation at Tha Uthen Police Station, where he admitted to being the man driving with no hands in the video.

Samranchai told police that around 4pm on November 6, he took four pills of Ya Ba and became “erratic” and recklessly drove along the Tha Uthen – Srisongkram Road.

The perpetrator’s drug test came back positive for methamphetamine.

Police arrested Samranchai under suspicion of “driving recklessly and dangerously, possession of a Category 1 illicit narcotic (methamphetamine) and driving a motorbike while high on methamphetamine.”

Samranchai will be prosecuted according to the law.

Assistant Commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Police Pol. Lt. Gen. Prachuap Wongsuk asks the public for their cooperation if they see bizarre or dangerous behaviour on the roads or anywhere else in Thailand.

You can notify the police department on 1599 or 191. Where possible, take a video and send it to the Facebook page “Social Media Centre Royal Thai Police.”

Acting Director General of Thailand’s Medical Department Dr Thongchai Kiratthihathayakhon recently said that methamphetamine is “Thailand’s biggest problem.”

Widespread Ya Ba addiction in Thailand comes as no surprise as the synthetic drug is widely available and costs only 10 to 30 baht per pill, far cheaper than a single can of beer.