Lovesick Thai man fabricates shooting on tanker to meet girlfriend
A Thai man fabricated a shooting and injuries on an oil tanker floating in the sea off Chon Buri on Monday, causing chaos for police officers, simply because he wanted to return home to see his girlfriend.
More than 20 officers from Laem Chabang Police Station, Sri Racha Marine Police, and the Sawang Prateep Sri Racha Rescue Foundation rushed to the oil tanker following a report on Monday, April 7, of a shooting that allegedly resulted in three injuries. Each police officer was armed in preparation to suppress the incident.
The vessel was floating approximately 1 kilometre off Udom Bay in the Sri Racha district of Chon Buri province. It belonged to a Thailand-based company.
Upon arrival, the confused captain of the tanker welcomed the officers on board and insisted that no shooting or injuries had occurred.
Officers decided to summon all crew members for questioning. All of them confirmed that no violent incident had taken place that day. However, one crew member, 25 year old Ekphamorn, refused to present himself to the police and locked himself inside his accommodation.
Police requested that the crew lead them to Ekphamorn’s room for further investigation. The crew warned officers to proceed with caution, as Ekphamorn had previously shown his colleagues a photo of a gun, leading them to suspect he might have brought a weapon on board.
Unexpectedly, Ekphamorn complied peacefully with police instructions and allowed officers to search both his person and his room. Police discovered drugs in his possession but did not find any firearms.
Ekphamorn admitted that he was the person who had made the false report. He claimed he wanted to return home to see his girlfriend, who had expressed a desire to break up with him.
He said he had not returned home for over a year and had asked for leave, but the captain told him to wait until the end of the month.
Following the conflict with his girlfriend, he wanted to go home immediately, so he fabricated the shooting. He also admitted to taking drugs before contacting the police.
Ekphamorn faces three charges: possession of illegal drugs, drug use, and filing a false report with the police.
For the false report, Ekphamorn faces up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 4,000 baht, or both, under Section 172 of the Criminal Law. The penalty for the drug-related offences remains unclear, as the type of drugs involved was not specified in the report.
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