Khon Kaen police investigate tyre puncture epidemic

10 vehicles have been damaged after hundreds of nails were dumped on a road in Khon Kaen, north east Thailand. Police don’t know whether the nails were maliciously dumped on the road or if it was an accident.

The nails were found in front of the Nong Go school in Khon Kaen. At least 10 motorbikes and cars have been affected and ended up with flat tyres after driving over the nails. Some cars had up to 10 nails stuck in their tyres. Locals in the area rushed to pick up the nails from the road filling buckets with the dumped nails.

A retired teacher from Nong Go, Kranuan District, Teerapong Sanhom, is one of the victims of a flat tyre. He told police he was driving along the road when he drove over the nails scattered all over the road. Police say that whoever dropped the nails did so over a 700 metre stretch of the road. Some of the district’s car or motorbike owners have had 2 or 3 vehicles affected.

Teerapong says he saw another motorbike driver with a flat tyre driving past his home.

“Other victims told me that they too have had punctured tyres.”

Teerapong wondered why the drivers happened to have a flat tyre near his home and checked the road in front of his home and found it scattered with nails, big and small. Locals have been trying their best to pick up the nails hoping that other drivers won’t end up with more damage and punctures. There has been so many nails that some have turned to sweep the nails onto the side of the road and pick them up later.

Teerapong checked the vehicles at his home and discovered 3 had been damaged. The cost of repairing the tyres has been about 1,000 baht each.

Police are continuing to investigate where all the nails came from.

SOURCE: Thai Residents