Thai man arrested for setting fire to 2 cars to relieve stress
Police arrested a Thai man who set fire to two cars in Pluak Daeng district in the eastern province of Rayong. The suspect said he burned the cars to relieve stress.
Firefighters rushed to control the blaze, which broke out at 3.30am on November 6, engulfing two cars parked outside a condominium on Road 3245 in Pluak Daeng district of Rayong. Officers successfully managed to control the fire, preventing its spread to nearby condo buildings, but the two cars were completely destroyed.
The car owners filed a complaint at Pluak Daeng Police Station that day. Officers checked security cameras near the condo and the surrounding areas until they spotted the culprit, a 33 year old man named Ice.
The footage showed Ice riding a motorbike slowly around the area. He then stopped, doused the two cars with petrol and set them on fire. Armed with CCTV evidence, officers issued an arrest warrant for Ice on November 16 and managed to arrest him yesterday, November 16.
Ice admitted that he never had any problems with the owners of the two cars. He was stressed after losing a game on his mobile phone and was looking for a way to relieve his stress. Ice confessed that he bought gasoline from a fuel dispenser near the scene.
According to the police, Ice had been arrested many times before for drug-related cases, so officers were not convinced by Ice’s confession about stress. They searched Ice and found five tablets of methamphetamine, also known as Yaba.
Ice faces two charges:
- Section 217 of the Criminal Law: setting fire to another person’s property. The penalty is six months to seven years imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 140,000 baht.
- Section 145 of the Narcotics Control Act: possession of Schedule 1 drugs. The penalty is imprisonment for up to 15 years and a fine of up to 1.5 million baht.
