Man caught after 13 hour search near Thaphra MRT station

A man was apprehended after a 13-hour search in Bangkok, following an incident where he threatened to harm himself at the Thaphra MRT station. He was eventually found hiding near a drainage canal.

Police from Thaphra station received a report of a man behaving erratically and threatening to jump from a height at the Thaphra Blue Line station on Charansanitwong Road. Firefighters and rescue teams, along with a cherry picker vehicle, were quickly mobilised to the scene.

Upon arrival, police and volunteers searched the station thoroughly but could not locate the man immediately. The search area was cordoned off, and detailed inspections of every nook and cranny began.

At around 11am, today, October 28, maintenance staff and firefighters discovered the man hiding under the railway tracks. Despite efforts to corner him, the man skillfully navigated the tracks and managed to escape.

Later, a Good Samaritan on a motorcycle informed the police about a suspicious man walking along the embankment. When shown a photo of the suspect, the informant confirmed it was the same individual, leading the police to continue the chase.

By 2pm, the man was found in a drainage canal near Wat Deed Wat, close to the Charan 13 MRT station on Charansanitwong Road in Bangkok Yai district. This location was approximately 1 to 2 kilometres from the initial sighting.

Prolonged effort

Police spent a considerable amount of time persuading the man to come out of the canal. He was identified as 35 year old Jeerapong, a native of Surin province with no stable occupation. A search revealed he was carrying a screwdriver.

Police and firefighters had to clean Jeerapong with fresh water before taking him to Thaphra police station for questioning. Locals reported that Jeerapong was often seen carrying scrap metal and other discarded items from a nearby school.

They described him as a vagrant, living in the area with two or three others, but noted that he had never harmed anyone. Occasionally, he would cause a commotion, seemingly out of mental instability, even breaking through the school’s zinc fences to take items.

Sasawut Thongprao, a member of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s governing and peacekeeping subcommittee, stated that he had received complaints from the public about a vagrant throwing stones at joggers, cutting trees in public parks, and making loud noises from midnight until morning, causing fear among residents.

He had been searching for Jeerapong since the previous afternoon following these complaints. Upon learning about the man’s presence on the Thaphra MRT tracks, he reinitiated the search, which led to the final apprehension near the drainage canal, 3 kilometres away.

Officials are now determining whether Jeerapong is mentally ill or simply a vagrant. If diagnosed with a mental illness, he will be sent to Ban Somdet Chaopraya Hospital for treatment. If he is found to be a vagrant, he will be taken to Maitreejit Home, reported KhaoSod.