Leeches on patrol

A dose of tough natural justice was handed out recently by the denizens of a local swamp to a young ne’er-do-well from Ranong who was caught riding a stolen motorcycle. The 16-year-old youth was taking his girlfriend for a ride around Chalong Circle when officers directing traffic decided there was something a little suspicious in his bearing and signalled him to pull over. But instead of slowing down “Sak”, (the name can mean a variety of things, including “mightiness”, “vigor”, “prestige” and “skill”) revved up the bike and sped away along Chao Fa West Rd. He didn’t get far, however. Just outside the Lamphun secondhand goods shop the somewhat less than skilful Sak lost control of the machine, sending himself and his girlfriend tumbling to the ground. In a stunning show of chivalry he then ran away as fast as he could, leaving his girlfriend cut and bruised and in possession of a stolen motorvehicle. Meanwhile, the traffic police had radioed in descriptions of Sak and the bike, and officers from Chalong Police Station were hot on his trail. Sak ran all the way to the Chalong Tambon Administration Organization building and, just when it was looking like the pursuing officers had him cornered, jumped over a wall and dashed into a nearby woods. The police surrounded the wood and began to comb through them trying to flush out the suspect. They searched for more than two hours but found no sign of the mighty Sak. Sak, meanwhile, had managed to crawl into a swamp, where he hid for three hours. After a while police gave up the search and went back to the station. Sak, beginning to feel a little hungry after all the exertion, then made his way out of the swamp. Only then did he notice that he was covered in blood. He might have managed to evade the police but he had fallen right into the clutches of the swamp’s plentiful population of leeches. The bloodthirsty creatures had attached themselves all over Sak’s body and drunk their fill. Now shirtless and dripping blood from leech bites all over his upper body, he wandered into nearby Land and Houses Village 7 and asked one of the residents for a drink of water. He explained his sorry-looking state by saying he had been set upon by a rival gang of youths and had run into the village to escape. Sak’s tale of woe was not yet over, though. Unfortunately for him not all the police had given up the search. Just as he was being handed his glass of water an officer pounced and put him under arrest. The vigorous Sak promptly confessed that he had stolen the bike, as well as two others on previous occasions. The officer took him to Chalong Police Station, where he was charged with theft.