Teen thieves arrested after brutal petrol station robbery in Pathum Thani
Police arrested two teenage thieves after they stabbed a petrol station attendant and stole 3,840 baht from him in the central province of Pathum Thani on Friday.
The incident occurred at a PT Petrol Station on Khlong Jet Thanyaburi-Wang Noi Road in the Khlong Luang district of Nonthaburi on Friday, April 14 at 1.18am. Security camera footage showed the two thieves riding a motorcycle into the petrol station and approaching the petrol attendant, 39 year old Chaiwat Konghirun.
One of the thugs threatened Chaiwat with a gun but he bravely disarmed the thief. Unfortunately, the other suspect got off the motorcycle and stabbed Chaiwat from behind near his neck, causing him to fall to the ground.
One of the thieves then grabbed a bag of cash from a staff member before fleeing the scene on their motorcycle. Chaiwat sustained serious injuries and was taken to Phatara-Thonburi Hospital for medical attention.
Officers from Khlong Ha Police Station investigated the incident by checking the security cameras at the petrol station and along the road that the suspects used to escape. The two thieves were later arrested at a dormitory located in the Lam Luk Ka district of Pathum Thani.
They confessed to their crimes and the authorities confiscated their black Yamaha NMAX, a Thai-made gun (Thai Pradit gun), gun bullets, and a nine-centimetre-long knife.
The two faced four charges including:
- Section 7 of the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosive, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearm: possessing a gun without permission. The punishment will be imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to 20,000 baht, or both.
- Section 8 of the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosive, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearm: carrying a gun in a public place without permission and necessary. The punishment will be imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to 10,000 baht, or both.
- Section 335 of the Criminal Law: committing theft at night by using a gun and a vehicle to facilitate the crime. The punishment will be imprisonment for one to five years and a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 baht.
- Section 299 of the Criminal Law: causing affray involving three persons or more which leads to a severe injury of any person. The punishment will be imprisonment for up to one year, and a fine of 20,000 baht, or both.
The job of a petrol station attendant has become increasingly perilous in Thailand. In March, a Burmese petrol station worker had his leg slashed by an unidentified drunk. Last year, a petrol station attendant in Bangkok lost his leg after a car crashed into him and another car while he was filling up with petrol.
Moreover, there have been a number of incidents where customers fill up with gas and flee without paying, which puts pressure on petrol station workers to cover the gas bills themselves.
