Thailand News
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A disarming mystery
BANGKOK: As the international media has been puzzling recently over the mystery of why five dismembered human feet have washed up on the beaches of British Columbia over the past year – the most recent find being on June 16 – Thailand now has its own body-part puzzle to ponder: a severed arm found on the tracks at Hualamphong Railway…
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Rogue monk defrocks self
NONG KHAI: As every good clergyman knows, improper sexual conduct is a quick way to get defrocked – cast out of the Buddhist clergy.Perhaps sensing that his own defrockment was inevitable, one naughty abbot in Tha Bor District decided to beat his detractors to the punch.At a meeting of villagers and local religious authorities to discuss allegations of sexual impropriety…
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Runaway bride
SAPHAN BURI: Being forced into a loveless marriage is an unhappy fate for any girl to endure, but not everyone takes the situation lying down. After being forced to marry the son of a wealthy local cattle owner, one young woman from Suphan Buri managed to escape with not only her freedom, but also the 400,000-baht sin sot (bride price)…
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Local shooters take aim at park pokers
BANGKOK: The world of Thai clay-pigeon shooting has been rocked by the daily desecration of one of the sport’s club headquarters in Hua Mak. Coinciding with a group of homosexual patrons using the range for open-air trysts, shooters have had to gingerly tread around a sea of discarded condoms. While you may think that this reporter is exaggerating what could…
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Little larvae, powerful performance
KALASIN: Aphrodisiacs and sex aids come in many forms. The Chinese have rhino horns and tiger penis, while Viagra has spread from America to become a worldwide craze allowing a generation of aging lotharios to revisit the prowess they enjoyed in younger days. In Isarn, however, the latest sex-aid craze is neither the body part of an endangered species nor…
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Snake wife makes grand eggs-it
UDON THANI: The peculiar story of a man who married a python said to be a 600-year-old spirit from his past has taken yet another bizarre twist. Satien Kenkudlung’s python wife (pictured, right, with her husband) slithered away last week, after a short marriage. The volume of curious visitors has dried up, but K. Satien has kept the interest of…
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Monk cops out royally
TAK: While impersonating a policeman for personal gain is nothing new in Thailand, one monk in Mae Sot who thought he may have picked the wrong career took it one step further over the Songkran holidays. The monk not only claimed to be a high-ranking policeman, but also a member of the royal family and a representative of the Bureau…
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Man stands by limbless bride
UDON THANI: Villagers from across the Northeast and as far away as Laos have been flocking to get a glimpse of a high-profile newlywed couple in Phen District. This couple are not celebrities, but a local Udon man and a female reticulated python he has fallen love with. The happy groom, 35-year-old Sathian Khenkutrang, said he believes that he and…
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Burglar busted during cat nap
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In most professions, apart from those involving heavy machinery or driving perhaps, falling asleep on the job will earn you a strict telling off, a warning letter or in the worst case, the sack. In the burglary trade, however, sleeping on the job can have somewhat more serious consequences as one young army deserter in Phraphrom District…
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The CCTV firm and the house of Porn
SAMUT PRAKAN: A man was arrested March 15 after police found a wire leading from his house to a tiny camera hidden in the ceiling of the bathroom of the house next door where six women lived. The camera, which had apparently been in place for five months, was discovered only when the voyeur was overcome with desire and rang…
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Hot-headed soldiers shoot up police station
NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Dealing with the police can be a frustrating experience in any country. Minor traffic offenses are often ignored and when a crime is reported, often nothing seems to be done. Weeks or months can go by with no apparent effort to arrest perpetrators and put them behind bars. Most people can do little but sit and fume at…
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Trash or treasure?
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: The heady days of “Jatukham Fever” last year, when sale of the over-sized Jatukham Ramathep medallions hit a record high, are clearly over.The large amulets – particularly beloved by tuk-tuk drivers, gunmen and others in dangerous professions – were reputed to bring good fortune. Some individual medallions sold for millions of baht and one woman was literally…
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Mischievous monkey meddlers meet their match
SRISAKET: A man was arrested in the early hours of February 21 for kidnapping monkeys from a popular tourist spot in Rasi Salai District. Police believe the monkeys were to be smuggled to Korea, to be eaten for perceived health-giving benefits.At 3:30 am, Pol Lt Col Wisanu Reuangsri, an investigating officer at Rasi Salai District Police Station, received a phone…
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Tanked-up tiger taming leads to trauma
AYUDHAYA: Taming big cats, whether they are lions or tigers, generally requires a long period of dedicated training – and no small amount of skill and courage. After a drinking session recently, one man in Ayudaya Province persuaded his zoo-keeper friend to let him have a go at taming a large tiger – with sadly predictable results. Prasert Yomprakong, originally…
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Abbot killed in “chicken shoot’
KAMPHAENG PHET: A temple abbot was shot dead February 5 after one of his students mistook him for a chicken. Phra Khru Silwachirakan, known to his followers as Luang Por Pheuan, the abbot of Wat Traiphum in Phrankratai district, was tending cattle belonging to the wat with three followers, Phra Pui, 27, Sanong Phobanlang, 37, and Buntham Phairoj, 54, when…
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Lustful teens get lewd in local library
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: Most parents would be happy to know that their teenagers were spending their free time hanging out in the library. What better place could there be to engage in some extracurricular learning and curl up with a good book? In Nakhon Sri Thammarat public library, however, teenagers have been curling up for some X-rated extracurricular activities –…
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Spineless heroes
LOPBURI: Dogs and horses are known for their faithful service in law-enforcement activities. In Lopburi Province, however, police recently found a new animal ally – the humble leech. On the evening of January 13, Pol Lt Col Theerayuth Yungthong, investigation inspector at Lopburi Muang District Police Station, received a call from the headman of Village 6 in Tambon Khao Sam…
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Rogue monks defrocked after temple-‘tech raid
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: Places of worship are not generally considered the best places to swig booze and get down to some bangin’ dance tracks. However, three young monks in Nakhon’s Wat Suan Pan turned their dormitory cell into a makeshift disco. News of the temple ‘tech came when neighbors told police that they had seen some monks leading a number…
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Abbot aberration under investigation
NONTHABURI: When Commander Kritsapha Suksaengdao from the Department of Civil Aviation walked up to Luang Por Prasit Sithikaroh, abbot of Wat Sainoi, on December 26 and offered a polite wai, the abbot probably thought nothing of it. After all, the abbot was the most revered monk in the province and counted many high-ranking military and government officials among his throng…
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Attack of the 50-foot pret
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: In the increasingly litigious nations of the West, any accident in the work place, including those caused by the victim’s own stupidity, are an immediate opportunity for cash payouts. Apparently the concept hasn’t filtered down to rural Thailand, as shown recently by a man who, after losing both hands in a horrific crane accident, proceeded to blame…
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Going out with a bang
YALA: The risk of being blown to smithereens has become an fact of everyday life for people in the Deep South as attacks by insurgents continue to occur on an almost daily basis. However, the insurgents are not the only threat in such a weapons-saturated environment. Even close friends can be dangerous, as five young men found out when their…
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Ghostly goings on
NAKHON RATCHASIMA: In the West nowadays, fears over the safety of children have reached the point where many parents are reduced to nervous wrecks at the thought of letting their little ones out of sight. Predatory priests, pedophiles and high-profile disappearances – notably that of Madeleine McCann just six months ago – have all taken their toll on parents’ sanity…
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Incombustible cleric
RANONG: Funerals of esteemed monks are always auspicious occasions for believers, a chance to bid farewell to a spiritual leader and wonder what rewards he will get for his life-long accumulation of merit. At the funeral of an abbot in Ranong, the deceased clergyman’s spiritual power was reportedly so strong that his mortal remains refused to burn. Phrakhru Praphasawiriyakhun, abbot…
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Deadly debate
NAKHON SRI THAMMARAT: Political discussions can get a little heated the aworld over, but in Thailand few provinces are more renowned for fiery political debate than Nakhon Sri Thammarat, where formerly close friendships have been known to fall to pieces over political disagreement. In the latest case, however, the debate turned fatal. In the early hours of November 8, Wichan…
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Police baffled: Burglary or buggery?
NAKON SRI THAMMARAT: When villagers in Chawang District heard the abbot of a local temple shouting he was being assaulted by a thief on October 14, they naturally rushed to assist. When police, led by Lt Samphan Wathanasong, arrived, they came upon a throng of more than 10 people happily beating the suspected thief and abbot assaulter. Police put a…
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Like maggots from heaven
PATTAYA: Caught out with a full bladder on his way home after a fishing trip, squid fisherman Singha Sangnuam, 26, met an unexpected sight when he stopped to relieve himself against a tree in Banglamung on September 24. Part way through his business, something dropped from the branches and landed with a thud right in front of him. A cloud…
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Holy cow?
SRISAKET: Villagers in Srisaket’s Khun Han district have been flocking to pay their respects to the body of a buffalo calf that not only looked human, but also had the superhuman ability to transmit the winning numbers in the upcoming lottery draw. The calf was born at 2 pm on September 22 to a female buffalo belonging to farmers Yim…
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Monks give the breast medicine
TAK: When modern medicine fails, people often turn to what has, in the West, come to be known as “alternative medicine”. Phuket has a large market for such treatments, such as acupuncture clinics and herbal spas offering cures for a wide variety ailments, both real and perceived. These more familiar forms of “alternative” medicine are not all Thailand has to…
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Stressed cleric seeks karaoke
SRISAKET: Apart from imparting knowledge, a key role for any educator should be setting a good moral and ethical example for his or her students. This is especially true if the teacher is in charge of disseminating religious doctrine. Teaching can be a stressful business, however. Thus, it was “the need to unwind” that one high-ranking monk gave as his…
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Fortunate fellow crashes own cremation ceremony
CHAI NAT: Attending your own cremation – as in actually turning up alive, rather than making a brief appearance stuffed in a box before being burned – would be an interesting experience. Think about it, you could hear the good points of your personality extolled in a eulogy and see who looked genuinely upset – and who looked secretly pleased.…
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