Hot-headed soldiers shoot up police station

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Dealing with the police can be a frustrating experience in any country. Minor traffic offenses are often ignored and when a crime is reported, often nothing seems to be done. Weeks or months can go by with no apparent effort to arrest perpetrators and put them behind bars.

Most people can do little but sit and fume at the situation. Only an unwise person would lose his temper at a police officer, especially in Thailand.

Two soldiers in Pak Chong District, however, recently decided that shooting up the local police station might spur the officers there into making some progress in their case.

Pak Chong District Police Superintendent Col Wiwat Silaket told reporters on March 14 that at about 10:30 pm the night before he was sitting working in his second-floor office when he heard three shots ring out from in front of the station.

When he went to investigate, he saw that the window above the stairway leading up to the third floor was pockmarked with bullet holes. In front of the station’s accounting office, he found a 9mm bullet head.

Curious as to why his station had come under attack by gunfire, Col Wiwat and a number of his underlings headed outside to find out where the shots had come from.

Across the road and dressed in camouflage fatigues were two men who, when they saw the officers approach, hastily made a dash for their car.

The soldiers were not fast enough, however, and the fleet-footed police officers stopped them from driving away and demanded to search them.

Sgt Maj Sitthiphol Siangsakul, 42, had a 9mm pistol which appeared to have been just fired and his accomplice, Sgt Maj Phairoj Emsombun, 38, was found in possession of a .38 revolver.

Looking rather sheepish, the two defenders of Thai sovereignty were brought into the station for questioning.

Sgt Maj Sitthipol explained that he had earlier reported to police that a window at his home design shop had been smashed.

When a window on his car met a similar fate, he again reported the vandalism to police.

When he came to the station earlier that day, he was told that police still had no leads in the two cases, he said. Frustrated, he and Sgt Maj Phairoj sat down across the road from the police station, where they cracked open a bottle of liquor to try and calm down.

As sometimes happens, however, the alcohol had the opposite effect. Enraged and emboldened by the devil’s drink, he pulled out his pistol and started shooting to blow off steam, he said.

Sgt Maj Sitthiphol claimed that he had shot into the air, never having meant to hit the police station.

His excuse did not convince the police officers, who detained the two soldiers.

Police did not say what the soldiers would be charged with.