Grenade mistake: Thai woman’s recycling blunder shocks residents

An old Thai woman in Chon Buri mistook a hand grenade for recyclable plastic and stored it in her home, leaving her neighbours in shock. Fortunately, the grenade was not harmful as it was a practice explosive.

A 66 year old Thai man, Chanan Piyakhumni, reported to Sattahip Police Station today, June 13, that he discovered a weapon of war, a blue hand grenade, in front of his old neighbour’s house on Navee Thong Niwet in Sattahip, Chon Buri.

Police arrived at the scene and found Chanan, some of his family members and locals in the area in a panic. Police then called Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officers to the scene to further investigate the object.

The grenade, marked in a light blue colour with brown straps, was marked Grenade Hand Practice M26A2 IMI 1-08, and placed in a plastic bottle jar filled with sand.

The EOD confirmed that it was a practice grenade with no explosive power and handed it over to Naval Ordnance for further investigation.

In an interview with ThaiPost following the incident, Chanan revealed that he discovered the elderly woman living next door had collected the grenade from a rubbish dump in the community and placed it in front of her house before going to hospital.

According to Chanan, the woman regularly collected plastic bottles and other recyclable waste to sell to a recycling company. She might have mistaken the grenade for recyclable plastic, believing she could profit from it.

Chanan’s son, shocked by the discovery, placed the grenade in a jar of sand to prevent accidental detonation before calling the police.

This incident follows a similar one last month when a security guard found a hand grenade near Boon Samphan Temple in Chon Buri in east Thailand. EOD officers safely disposed of the device, but its origin remains unknown.