Meth addicted woman terrorizes Phuket temple

PHUKET: A deranged, knife-wielding woman had people running for cover at a Phuket temple yesterday until she was finally stripped of the weapon and placed under police custody.

Chalong Police were notified at 10:30am that a knife-wielding woman was terrorizing people on the grounds of the Wat Sawang Arom School, off Soi Happy Home in Rawai, according to Siangtai Daily newspaper.

Arriving at the scene with Rawai Municipality officers, police found a woman with an angry, fixed stare stalking about, waving a 10-inch blade from side-to-side.

Teachers ordered all students into their classrooms, which were then locked from the inside for their own safety.

The woman, who appeared demented, caused a great deal of commotion at the school and temple grounds, which was full of devotees as yesterday was a Buddhist holy day, or wan phra.

With scores of people watching the drama from a safe distance, officers tried to convince the woman to hand over the weapon.

When this failed, Rawai Municipality officers Anat Samart and Danai Khumban waited until she let her guard down, then charged in and disarmed her without incident.

The woman was handcuffed by police and sent to Chalong Police Station, where officers prepared her for transfer to Suan Saranrom Hospital, a regional facility for psychiatric patients in Surat Thani.

Nuan Somphakdee, a 56-year-old resident of Rawai Village 2, identified the woman as 35-year-old Orasa Chainamkhem, the former wife of his stepson.

He said Ms Orasa developed psychiatric problems from overuse of methamphetamines and was sent for treatment about two years ago, at which time the couple parted ways.

Mr Nuan said he thought Ms Orasa had married a foreigner and gone to live abroad for a period, then returned after having problems in that relationship.

She then probably went on a meth binge that resulting in her deranged and dangerous behavior yesterday, he said.