Drug-addicted passenger stabs van driver on Nonthaburi Road

Photo via 77 Kaoded

A Thai man grappling with drug addiction feared a van driver intended to assault him and decided to retaliate first by stabbing the driver while travelling on a road in Nonthaburi province. The driver is currently in stable condition.

The stabbing took place in front of Si Chai Thong Village in the Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi at about 4pm yesterday, May 22. The injured van driver, 34 year old Wasan, was rushed to a nearby hospital before officers from Pak Kret Police Station arrived at the scene.

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Channel 7 reported that the attacker, 20 year old Earth, attempted to flee the scene but was unsuccessful. Earth was arrested and taken to a police station for a questioning.

Earth’s account was confusing. He claimed his mother and aunt arranged for him to travel to his home province, Sakon Nakhon, with his father paying 800 baht for the trip.

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However, he was not familiar with the van driver and other passengers, making him anxious. Earth claimed the driver changed the destination to Udon Thani without explanation, further increasing his anxiety.

Earth said he asked to be dropped off but his request was allegedly refused. He believed the driver would kill him if he did not attack the driver first.

Driver’s story

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The van driver, Wasan, clarified the incident after he recovered from the attack revealing that Earth’s parents hired him to take their son to Sakon Nakhon while he picked up other passengers along the way.

Aware of Earth’s drug history, Wasan inquired if he had consumed any drugs before the trip. Earth confessed to having taken some drugs. This revelation concerned Wasan, fearing that Earth might face arrest at police checkpoints along the route.

Keeping his apprehensions to himself, Wasan continued driving until they reached the scene of the incident. At one point, Earth took hold of Wasan’s mobile phone. While Wasan was preoccupied searching for it, Earth attempted to flee from the vehicle. However, Wasan promptly secured the door, preventing Earth from escaping.

Wasan’s action made Earth angry. He strangled Wasan and stabbed him repeatedly with a knife. Wasan managed to fight back but was stabbed near his heart. Wasan said he got out of the vehicle to seek help. It was lucky that the witnesses came to intervene just in time.

Earth was charged under Section 295 of the Criminal Law: assaulting another person until it causes both physical and mental harm. The penalty is imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both. The legal punishment for his drug use was not revealed.

Central Thailand NewsCrime NewsThailand News

Petch Petpailin

Petpailin, or Petch, is a Thai translator and writer for The Thaiger who focuses on translating breakingThai news stories into English. With a background in field journalism, Petch brings several years of experience to the English News desk at The Thaiger. Before joining The Thaiger, Petch worked as a content writer for several known blogging sites in Bangkok, including Happio and The Smart Local. Her articles have been syndicated by many big publishers in Thailand and internationally, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and the Bangkok Post. She is a news writer who stops reading news on the weekends to spend more time cafe hopping and petting dwarf shrimp! But during office hours, you can find Petch on LinkedIn and you can reach her by email at petch@thethaiger.com.

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