Thailand News
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Snake bite saves man’s life
SRISAKET: A one-legged fisherman fought off two ten-foot pythons he caught in his net by biting them in the throat. Fifty-six-year-old Chachawan Chaowaphithikul said the snakes attacked him when he tried to free them from his net. Mr Chachawan said he placed the net in a brook near his house every day. When he went to check it on the…
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Headless baby draws crowds
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A family in Ron Phibun District have set up a shrine to house the body of a stillborn headless baby. The baby was the second of a pair of twin girls born to 30-year-old Saijai Sriraksa on October 14. After the first healthy twin was born, doctors noticed Mrs Saijai still had a lump in her abdomen.…
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Loan shark shaken by suicide cell
BANGKOK: A loan shark found the police were the least of his worries after being detained in a haunted cell. On September 1, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers arrested Sombun Thong-kham, 39, for extortion and unauthorized money lending, and placed him in custody at CSD headquarters on Phahonyothin Rd. Around 3am the following morning, the duty sergeant heard Mr Sombun…
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Drunk driver chows on cops
UDON THANI: A drunk driver bit two police officers who asked him to take a breathalyser test. Police said salesman Chatsak Ploicharoen, 36, was weaving all over the road as he drove his pickup truck towards a police checkpoint in Udon Thani. Police signaled for him to stop, but he drove straight through the checkpoint. Two officers chased after him…
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Thick thief returns car
BANGKOK: A car thief was arrested last Thursday after phoning the dealer he had stolen the car from to complain when it broke down. Car dealer Thonchok Singnuwongsa said the thief waited around his showroom until a genuine customer came in to put a deposit on a car. He then persuaded a staff member to hand over the keys to…
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Lottery players punt on one-eyed pussy
AYUDHAYA: Gamblers have been rushing to get lucky omens from the corpse of a one-eyed kitten which refuses to rot. The cat’s owner, 60-year-old Wichian Sangchai, said the kitten was the last of a litter of three born early in July in Ayudhaya, but died within minutes of being born. Mr Wichian said the kitten had only one eye and…
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Haunted heister makes amends
CHONBURI: A man claiming to be haunted by a ghost after stealing a 30,000 baht gold bracelet from a shop five years ago turned himself to police today. Jirasak Phahurat, 33, told police that a ghost came to him every day for five years, telling him to return a bracelet with the same value to the shop owner. So, Mr…
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Abbot claims black magic nailed him
UTTARADIT: A temple abbot was admitted to hospital after doctors found nails in his stomach for the second time in two months. Phra Athikananuwat Wisutho, 32, abbot of Wat Hat Song Khwai in Tha Pla District, was admitted to Uttaradit Hospital on July 7 after an X-ray found five 3- to 4-inch nails in his stomach. The director of Utaradit…
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When relatives stay too long…
AYUDHAYA: Every family has its own unique customs, but a family in Phak Hai District recently caught national attention when it was discovered keeping the corpse of a long-dead relative in the front room of the family home. ÂCurrent guardian of the coffin, 36-year-old Samreng Yingyong, told reporters the body was that of his great-great uncle Phuangthong Lidkaho, who died…
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Beggar thinks prison is the breast way out
KHON KAEN: Having failed to get anywhere with begging, an unemployed man was arrested on June 6 after squeezing the breasts of a number of women. Like Little Tramp in Modern Times, the man claimed the act had nothing to do with sexual appetite, but was done so to get arrested and sent to prison – where he would be…
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Elite guard in alleged sodomy of senior, 71
TRANG: Police have arrested a People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) guard for the alleged rape of a 71-year-old man. The shocking announcement was made on June 11 by Thian Banthip, deputy superintendent of the Muang District Police in nearby Trang province. Lt Col Thian identified the alleged rapist as 44-year-old Phuan Thajeen, a member of the PAD’s elite “Srivichai Warriors”…
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Local youngster goes for granny
NAKHON PHANOM: While the sight of an old man marrying a young woman is not too unusual in Isarn, when it’s the other way round, it manages to raise eyebrows. Therefore, when word spread that 73-year-old Thongsuk Phutthawan was set to marry 26-year-old Somphon Chanthawong, 47 years her junior, it quickly drew the interest of the local press. The pair…
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30-baht pay-out for stabbing victim
BANGKOK: Stabbing victim Pairat Juntub knew he was entitled to compensation, but he was staggered yesterday at the sum he got from the government. Mr Pairat has the dubious distinction of receiving the lowest amount ever given to a crime victim. “I got 30 baht (approx 86 cents in USD),” Pairat said. “I was speechless when I saw the amount.”…
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Thief lifts trousers
BANGKOK: A shopper at Carrefour supermarket had an embarrassing journey home after a thief stole his trousers while he was on the toilet on May 8. Kasin Siriwichit, 24, reported the incident to Thong Lor Police. Mr Kasin said that around midday he went to use the toilet at the Rama 4 Rd branch of Carrefour. In the cubicle, he…
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One night, two missing members
RAYONG: Staff at Rayong Hospital had a busy night on April 27, when two men with severed penises were brought in for emergency treatment. The first patient, a 31-year-old from Pluak Daeng District, arrived at around 1am. He was bleeding profusely from a wound near what had not long before been the base of his penis. Surgeons were able to…
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Belgian member survives toothy attack
CHONBURI: A Belgian man in Pattaya early this morning suffered what might be every man’s greatest secret fear, when his Thai girlfriend bit his penis and almost severed it, police said. The 56-year-old tourist, whose name was reported in the Thai media, was rushed to the Pattaya Memorial Hospital, where doctors managed to save the organ. The hospital reported the…
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Holy hole
NONG KHAI: Villagers in Phon Phisai and neighbouring districts have been flocking to Tambon Soem to pay respect to a mysterious hole that appeared in a rice field shortly before Songkran. Residents of Village 9 told reporters that one morning earlier this month, after a day and a night of constant rain, they heard a loud bang – like that…
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Feisty fish, painful problem
PHUKET: Doctors in Pichit Hospital were presented with a medical conundrum on March 25, when an eight-year-old boy was brought in with a climbing perch stuck up his bottom. The boy, whose name was given in media reports but is omitted here, was carried into the hospital by his 60-year-old grandmother. The boy told doctors that on the way home…
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Penis prank provokes revenge rape
UDON THANI: A man arrested on March 21 confessed that he raped his friend’s wife in revenge for falling victim to a prank while drunk last year. The suspect said that he had been planning revenge for months after the victim’s husband tied his penis to his big toe when he passed out during a drinking session. Police arrested 30-year-old…
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Monkey kills owner with coconut
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: A coconut collector in Nop Phitam District was killed after his favorite monkey dropped a coconut onto his head on February 25.Leurit Chanchum, 48, from Village 4 Tambon Krung Ching, was hired by a neighbor to collect coconuts using his trained macaque. When the monkey was up the tree, it threw down some coconuts to its owner.…
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Abbot on the run
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: Police are hunting for the abbot of a temple after he allegedly beat up his male lover in the early hours of January 23.Police were called to Wat Khuan Soong in Chawang District just before 4 am by a man who said that the temple abbot had beaten him with a chair.When they arrived at the scene,…
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Enraged Aussie pounds Bangkok police
BANGKOK: Life in Thailand can sometimes get a bit frustrating for expats when things don’t quite work out as they would in their home countries. This, coupled with the booze-heavy lifestyle enjoyed by a fair percentage of Westerners living in the Kingdom, occasionally leads to “Angry Farang Syndrome”.A prime example occurred one afternoon last month outside Thong Lor Police Station. Station…
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Bat-tling the cold, Isarn style
KALASIN: While temperatures of 10 degrees Celsius may not seem so cold to expats from more northerly climes, for poor Thais living in unheated shacks without warm bedding the cold season is still a real trial.Every year charity appeals are launched to find warm clothing for poor families in the North and Northeast.Villagers in the Isarn have developed alternative methods…
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Drug disco monk defrocked
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In an interesting story that until now has not been reported in the English language press, a monk was arrested on November 17 after police discovered he had converted his cell at the temple into a mini disco and was having drug parties. After receiving a tip off that a monk at Wat Mukhathara, in Tambon Pak…
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Youth loses face in explosive sex act
ANG THONG: Following on from last week’s report about the unfortunate Army private with the fish caught in his throat comes yet another sorry tale from a Thai youth about the perils of putting foreign objects in one’s mouth. This story came to light when an eighteen year old youth, identified only as Chai, was brought in to Wisetchaichan Hospital on December 7…
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A fish in the hand is better than two in the pond
ROI-ET: As the old proverb goes, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. As a young soldier in Isarn recently found out, the same holds true for fish in ponds. Late last month, Royal Thai Army Private Benchaphon Dangwibul told a reporter in a rather hoarse voice that on November 24 he was on a 10-day…
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A Krathong for your bong
BANGKOK: In the run up to Loy Krathong festival every year, there are a host of predictable stories in the Thai press about teens who choose to lose their virginity during the romantic, full moon celebration. Other common reports involve rampant price gouging on candles and other materials needed to make krathongs as the special day draws near. This year,…
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Aussie stabbing: no worries, mate
PATONG: Officers at Patong Hospital have denied reports in a local Thai-language newspaper that an Australian serviceman on shore leave was in a coma after being stabbed repeatedly following an altercation in Patong on the night of November 5. In fact, the soldier was treated for only minor stab wounds, which were stitched in the hospital. He was released shortly…
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Cobra cocktails, roadside rat-ions
SUPHANBURI: The sight of roadside stalls selling seasonal fruit, diesel-flavored roast chicken or other comestibles is a common one on any road trip in Thailand. Along the roads of Suphanburi, however, the offerings are a bit more exotic, with cobras and field rats the current hits.On October 27, Sala Phromphim, who owns five stalls selling the unusual delicacies along the…
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Flushed condoms trigger sewage catastrophe
PATHUM THANI: Most people have been warned at some point not to flush condoms down the toilet for risk of blocking the outflow pipe and having a nasty overflowing toilet to deal with. But who has ever seen it actually happen? The management of one short-time hotel in Muang District discovered, to its chagrin, that a steady input of second-hand…
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