Live grenade found on Phuket beach

PHUKET: A live M67 hand grenade was found on Panwa Beach this morning, on the southeastern coast of Phuket.

Experts from Phuket’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit promptly removed the war weapon from the sand and moved it to a secure location.

“We were informed about the grenade after it was found by a villager near Soi Ruamjai at about 11:30am,” Lt Prachpong Keawkamjan, head of the Phuket EOD, told the Phuket Gazette this afternoon.

No one was injured by the weapon upon discovery.

“Luckily the man who found the grenade did not mess with it. However, the grenade should only go off if the pin is taken out, as is standard with M67s,” said Lt Prachpong, who confirmed the pin was still in place when the grenade was recovered.

The grenade was bound with tape and inside a plastic container.

“We believe it may have been discarded by fishermen, who taped it up and set it afloat in the bucket so it would not be on the boat, and it washed ashore in the bucket, or it could have been placed there by someone in the village. We are still investigating this,” said Lt Prachpong.

The M67 hand grenade has an effective casualty radius of up to 10 meters.

“The danger of such a weapon depends on how close you are to it when it detonates, and where you are hit on the body,” explained Lt Prachpong.

The Wichit Police have been charged with tracking down the owner of the grenade, he added.

“This grenade is considered a war weapon, and is illegal to purchase and illegal to own,” noted Lt Prachpong.

The maximum penalty for possessing war weapons is 20 years in prison.

— Chutharat Plerin