Phuket police defuse hostage situation

PHUKET: After a 30-minute standoff, Phuket Police on Tuesday rescued a woman held hostage by a knife-wielding glue addict at a local gas station.

Chalong Police were notified of the attack at 11am.

Arriving at the scene, the PTT service station on Chao Fa West Road in Chalong, they found a Phuket man holding a knife to the throat of Roongtiwa Sae-lim, an employee with a Bangkok Bank branch in Nakhon Sri Thammarat.

After 30 minutes of negotiating, they finally convinced the man to release Miss Roongtiwa unharmed before taking him into custody.

He was later identified as 22-year-old Choompol Chompoosri, a resident of Karon.

Miss Roontiwa had stopped at the service station to used the ATM when she was approached by Mr Choompol, who intended to rob her at knife-point after she completed a withdrawal.

Friends who witnessed what was happening immediately called police at the nearby Chalong Police Station and the standoff ensued.

Under questioning, Mr Choompol confessed that he had already served two prison sentences for inhalant use.

Chalong Police Duty Officer Boonlert Onklang told the Phuket Gazette that the suspect said he was unable to break the habit.

“He was high on glue again that day. Broke, he waited for a victim at the ATM machine next to the 7-Eleven store at the gas station,” he said.

Mr Choompol will be charged yet again with illegal drug use, attempted robbery and threatening someone with a weapon, Lt Col Boonlert said.

— Chutharat Plerin