CHACHOENGSAO – Well, it all looks a little set up – and so does the news report.
On the afternoon of August 4th, Lieutenant Colonel Charin Ngamwongnoi, chief of police at Saenphudat Police station, with his team, approached Prasartwittaya School to try and rescue a child who had been taken hostage by a feral, drunken sex fiend.
They saw Mr. Narong Phutotam, aged 29, foaming at the mouth. It is also believed that he is an employee at a local shrimp farm.
Madly drunk, he grabbed Phanchagarn Srisom, a 10 yr old kid and held a knife to his neck. The boy attends second grade at a local school. Hostage negotiators employed the usual dialogue to try and calm the man down – but after two hours, they were back where they started.
Another couple of hours passed, before police found the right moment to tackle the mad man and bring him down. The kid got away safe but has been left traumatized due to the incident. No one has suggested counseling.
Hmm, so that was the report... Don’t you think Mr. Narong has serious potential in stand-up comedy? And maybe even the kid? He kind of looks like he’s having a good time. Actually, they could even be a duo called, ‘ The Hostage Takers!’ And maybe… it’s even a little weird this story actually got in the papers?
PHETCHABUN – The man's eyes welled up with tears and his fingers picked at leaves as he prepared for what was to come. With his face to the ground, he felt the cool muzzle of the gun pressed against the back of his head. But with a flash of inspiration, the culprit suddenly decided to do it all a little differently. He held the victim down, undid his belt and chinos, stripped him of his underwear; pulled a pair of shears from his back pocket and snipped off the victim’s Johnson before throwing it into a nearby fishpond. Oooops!
The victim writhed along the ground like a headless chicken while the culprit left in his pick-up truck. In the photo above, a woman at the hospital stares at the penis she knows is not there.
The ex-wife of the culprit revealed that she had only been with the victim for a month and that the culprit was her ex-husband. They had separated for a long time, so the incident came as a shock.
At 19.00 hours, Police Captain Chatri Senaphayung at Yoiwangchompoo Police Station in Phetchabun received a report on a man who had been attacked on a road side near Gamnan Jun farm.
On site, the captain and his team followed a trail of blood which led to the victim who was by then, dying of major blood loss. He was immediately sent to Phetchabun hospital.
The victim is known as Mr. Anan Nanok, age 36, a production employee of Saha Farm Co.,Ltd. He sustained severe head injuries from being struck with wooden planks, and his severed penis left only a stub. He groaned throughout medical treatment at the hospital.
When the victim’s condition was stable, he told police that before the incident, he had just come back from planting rice seeds with his girlfriend, (the ex-wife) Mrs. Kimphan Wankong, aged 44. They had been just 200 meters away from where he was attacked. As he rode home on his motorbike, ten people in a pick-up truck charged him holding knives and bats. They lunged at him and knocked him to the ground.
One of the culprits brandished a revolver and pointed it at the victims head. The culprit was about to pull the trigger when suddenly he changed his mind, turned to his friends and whispered something. They all laughed. The ten of them stripped the victim’s clothes off and held him down. One of the culprits reached for the victim’s scrotum and penis - then closed a pair of shears on them. The culprit threw the severed appendage into a nearby fishpond; then they all left in the pick-up truck. The victim recognized one of them as Mr. Lae Chamnanthup: his girlfriend’s ex-husband.
Mrs. Kimphan stated that Mr. Lae was her ex-husband who she had separated from years ago. She was allegedly horrified at the cruelty of what he had done and could not understand why it had happened. She and the victim had only been seeing each other for a month and have not extensively developed their relationship as the victim has not been in Phetchabun for very long.
Captain Chatri stated that all the culprits have since been identified. A reporter also added that the medical teams at Phetchabun hospital were unable to reattach the victim’s penis as it was never recovered from the fish pond.
NONG KHAI – If you stare at this photo for long enough you might start to feel a little hungry. The thought of someone having an abandoned mine shaft in their digestive tract, filled with nine hundred and twenty crystallized deposits is…uh… appetizing? Anyways, I’d recommend this story with a bit of egg on toast.
The chief administrator at Yuparatchathabo Hospital recently announced a new record in gallstone laparoscopy: 920 gallstones found in a woman from Nong Khai. The excavation set a new world record in gallstone extraction surgery.
The Thai surgeon pioneering this trendy procedure only took seventeen minutes to complete the operation. Word has spread fast and many rock-heavy Laotians are now swimming and boating across the Mekong River to get treatment. Some swimmers have sank in the deep water and warning signs have since been placed on the river side explaining that people should avoid swimming with rocks in their stomachs.
Doctor Wattana Parisri, the chief administrator of Yuparatchathabo Hospital in Nong Khai province, stated that in June, the hospital had the opportunity to participate in a health event in Vientiane, capital of Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. The Thai embassy in Vientiane assisted in setting up a medical booth at the event. Many Laotians showed great interest in the hospital’s health care services; and were particularly heavy on issues regarding the gallbladder and digestive tract.
Doctor Wattana also mentioned that in the last two to three years, Yuparatchathabo Hospital has had an increase in the number of medical services offered to Laotians coming from across the Mekong River to Thailand.
The increase has come as a result of the hospitals exalted reputation in gall bladder and liver gallstone surgery. Yuparatchathabo hospital also topped rankings in a number of other gallstone treatments with over 5,000 patients.
Approximately 10% of people over the age of forty in the eastern provinces of Thailand appear to have gallstones in their gall bladder or liver. Medical professionals are unsure why this is the case. It could be genetic; maybe it’s the drinking water; or perhaps people are having pebbles for dinner.
Doctor Wattana further stated that medical surgeons in Yuparatchathabo hospital are highly proficient in performing gallstone procedures. Using a laparoscope, operations are typically finished in 15 to 30 minutes. Patients are back at home within a few days. The wounds made for the laparoscopes are small and do not cause much pain.
Crowned as the world record holder of gall stones, Mrs. Khamfong Duangsomsri, aged 53, walked out from the operating theater after seventeen minutes of surgery. At 920 gallstones, the figure topped world rankings for most gallstones extracted from a person. The previous record stood at 232 gallstones. Mrs. Khamfong is considering a career in Television.
The hospital also has plans of it own: to develop gallstone technology and to become the main hub in the Asian-Pacific for gallstone laparoscopy. The hospital also hopes to lift standards in orthopedics in order to attract patients both domestically and internationally.
So, what of the 920 stones? Maybe Mrs. Khamfong could use them for a bit of cheap landscape architecture? Build a Japanese Zen garden. Anyways, there’s a gold rush going on at Nong Khai so find yourself a donkey and leave first thing in the morning. Ho Ha!
BURIRAM - The owner of a funeral services and coffins business is getting ready to vacate his home after more than fifty fires began on his premises in the period of a month. He has lost nearly a million baht in business revenues and four of his employees have since quit due to fear.
Unable to prevent or find an explanation for the fires, the man contacted a Cambodian necromancer in an attempt to purge the house of evil; the owner speculated that his business competitors placed a hex on his home to awaken dark spirits.
Buriram district police believe that the phenomena has scientific basis. Or at least they hope there is.
The home is situated at 85 Monkeyhead house in Buriram. The owner, Mr. Vitoon Chuenjit, 25 yrs old, runs the funeral business along with his family and employees. Together they witnessed and experienced over fifty unexplained fires in the house in the first month of living there.
They initially thought that business competitors had used black magic to put curses on them and invited a group of monks to exorcise bad spirits. But even after the rituals, fires continued to ignite from thin air.
Vitoon recently gave an interview stating that the fires appeared from morning until evening. It first started on a long piece of cloth used to decorate funerals; then a plastic plant pot caught on fire, and finally it was the coffins placed at the front of the house. Surveillance cameras were of no use either. Even after installing them and protecting the front entrance with spiritual seals – the cause of the fires could neither be discovered nor prevented.
Vitoon further stated that the fire couldn’t be the result of an arsonist or damaged electrical wirings, as all such possibilities have been checked. He instead believes that a kind of supernatural power is responsible. Each time he has distinguished a fire, he has discovered a pile of bone ashes.
Since news has spread to the press, Vitoon’s family has been without privacy. Large groups have gathered around the house, sometimes all day long, to wait and witness the fire. Vitoon has since decided to shut the gate to his house for the safety of others.
Mr. Vitoon Chuenjit continues to state that his business has suffered greatly from the incident, with the loss of customers and a decline in revenues worth a million baht in cash value. Moreover, four of his employees have quit as result of the incident.
But Vitoon has not given up just yet. He insisted that he will remain in the business because he took it over from his father; and is now planning to move to the Amplaimat district.
Police at Buriram are still trying to find the cause of the fires – and as determined as they are to discover a scientific explanation – the fires continue to burn with human remains.
Video footage about The Haunted House of Fire will soon be uploaded onto Bangkok Allegory.
RAYONG – Two men wearing motor cycle helmets had concealed receptacles of potent acid in their over coats, as they attended a famous restaurant where a handsome young DJ was working. Carefully planned, the culprits lured the young DJ outside and poured the acid onto his face.
The victims left eye may be permanently blind; the left side of his neck has been burnt and disfigured, and his chest, severely blistered.The victim had worked as a DJ for the restaurant – and had been quite popular as a result.
The culprits had stopped by the restaurant and asked for a waiter to call the DJ over. The unsuspecting victim approached the men, who he thought were a pair of merry diners, before he was sprayed with acid in a surprise attack. The motive is believed to be love related.
The incident was reported at 22.00, to Lieutenant Colonel Chatchai Inthonphuk, stationed at Klang Police station in Rayong who received the call about the victim being splashed with acid in a restaurant called ‘Bann Khiang Din’.The well-known bistro is in Soi Arikhun district.
The officer and his team went to the site immediately, and arrived to find the restaurant still open to service.Everything appeared normal, but outside a group of workers and night clubbers appeared shocked as they spoke about the incident.
The victim, Mr. Surasak Hoiraya AKA DJ Bank, twenty two yrs old, had already been sent to KlangHospital.Police conducted inquiries at the restaurant before continuing their investigations at the hospital.
The young man was found to be severely injured: his left eye completely swelled shut, his neck and chest blistered and marred.Medical teams did their best to reduce skin damage.
After further questioning, the victim told the officer he had only worked as a DJ for restaurant for a week.Before the incident, he had been taking music requests from customers and a waiter named Oh had told him there were visitors for him.He immediately thought it was his friends.Surasak walked out to the entrance of the restaurant to find both culprits dressed in long coats and motorcycle helmets.When the victim walked closer, they suddenly splashed acid onto his face and injured another waiter in the process.
The culprits immediately fled on a Honda motorbike. The victim had no idea what the motive was.
Police stated that since the victim was a good-looking young man, a DJ, and a singer at other venues, with many female fans – Surasak probably had unseen enemies.
The victim has a wife.Police have analyzed the case and concluded that the incident had been carefully planned and further stated that suspects may include girls he had been interacting with. Other potential suspects include, maleswho failed to court women as a result of the victims presence. Further investigations may take place.
BANGKOK – A man was crushed by an elevator in the office of J.M. Apparel Ltd in Sathorn. Office workers, police and emergency personal were unable to pull him from the vice like grip.
The office was a four-storey building with a large apparel export business. On the third floor near the carriage elevator, emergency crews faced a horrible image. The body of Mr. Somsuan Koetsuk (first name means: a perfectly proportional body and the last name means filled with happiness and joy) age 52, a messenger of the company, was crushed by an elevator that fell on his body stuck between the entrance and the elevator shaft. The rescue team immediately tried to lift the elevator with tools but the man succumbed to his massive injuries.
From investigation it was known that Mr. Somsuan Koetsuk and friends had tried to take a large pile of fabrics in the elevator up to the second floor. When the lift reached the floor, Mr. Somsuan started to move the fabrics out but the elevator suddenly continued upwards onto the third floor. Unprepared, Mr. Somsuan fell leaving his upper body at the elevator entrance, and his lower body in the shaft. Mr. Somsuan had tried to pull out his wedged lower half, but the elevator had a mechanical failure and continued to grip him. A number of employees at the company tried to help him out before calling the police over.
Now that Mr. Somsuan Koetsuk’s body is no longer proportional people are suggesting that it may not have been an accident. The police are also investigating the incident further as they are not completely convinced by the way the lifts operated. Something seemed rigged.
THAILAND – A flock of Phitsanulok villagers paraded around a Takian tree believed to have been enchanted with good fortune; they caressed the tree – rubbed their nether regions and hind quarters on the trunk like animals in a turf war.
Others who considered themselves to be more well-educated, simply pleaded on their hands and knees.
The villagers were seeking lottery numbers - and it seemed the only way to get them was by rubbing the tree until a number like, 245-292-290-84 appeared.
Elsewhere, in Samut Sakhon, a strange looking cluster of mushrooms sprouted up in a mans garage. The owner, amazed at the phenomenon, suggested that supernatural powers were at work, since plant life could not survive, let alone thrive in the deficient soil.
After the mushrooms appeared in his garage, the mans business profits allegedly soared. He has since enclosed a protective fence around his mushrooms.
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, another congregation of villagers rushed to see a large gecko and a centipede fight to the death. Like in watching bullfighting and other lethal sports involving the vicarious experience of death, villagers felt a body-aching thrill as the centipede was eaten by the gecko. And yes, you guessed it -it was seen as sign of good luck.
When monthly lottery announcements are around the corner, many ticket buyers go out of their way to find a mystical means of winning.
Reporter, Nakhon Si Thammarat, accounted an unusual incident occurring at a house in the Thungyai district involving a gecko and a centipede. The two creatures were pit against each other in a battle that lasted ten minutes . The gecko was bitten many times, but held onto its foe in a fight to the death. The result of the match became the news of the village. Elders nodded at one another, acknowledging it to be a miracle. Those who witnessed the fight quickly deciphered lottery numbers from the result – don’t ask how - but then quickly bought lottery tickets.
On the other side of Thailand in Phitsanulok, a journalist reported on villagers parading around a Takian tree, located near Phaktop creek.
The so-called Takian trees were discovered during a creek excavation two months ago. Ten of these trees have since been found. Villagers have wrapped them in colored fabric – a show of enlightenment. Villagers have named a particular tree, Mae Soi Sudajan, meaning ‘the lady of the moon necklace.’ News of the trees has spread far and wide and the area has become something of a tourist attraction for those desperate to find magical lottery numbers.
Amidst the crowd, a man who identified himself as the sage of lottery numbers stepped out to tell the villagers that the Takian tree will give accurate lottery numbers for two consecutive months. The statement caused further excitement among the community, bringing one another wave of lottery frenzy.
Most villagers seem to agree that, 245 292 290 84, is this months lucky number.
Not over yet - in Samut Sakhon, a reporter was informed of mushrooms growing in the garage of Mr. Naret Parnthong’s repair shop. The mushroom story drew quite a crowd to the premises - and Mr. Naret told the reporter that he had first seen the mushrooms growing from the ground, believing they were ordinary mushrooms. However, as they grew, he continued to be amazed at the quality and vitality of the mushrooms; an unnatural occurrence considering the deprived soil they sprouted from. On average they have measured in at ninety centimeters in width and thirty centimeters in height with a diameter of around twenty six centimeters.
Mr. Naret has since sealed off the mushrooms after reporting that he has made financial gains as a result of their discovery. Unsurprisingly, villagers are also trying to decipher hidden messages from the mushrooms in order to buy lottery tickets.
PATTAYA – A Russian man, claiming to be a police officer on vacation, was caught up in a steamy threesome with two other women on one of Pattaya’s main streets.When he was pulled from the vehicle in which the minor orgy took place, the man argued with police saying, “What? This is how it‘s done in Russia!”
Perhaps the man had forgotten he was in Thailand.
A journalist reported that at 03.30AM, Lieutenant Colonel Sutham Chaosrithong, assistant chief of police at Pattaya police station, came across a bronze Toyota Vios, plate number 1344, which was shaking and bouncing like a vehicle with suspension modifications. In fact, the shaking was so violent, that the officer thought a late night melee was taking place – he drew his weapon and carefully proceeded towards the vehicle.
As the officer came close to the window, he was shocked to find a foreign male fornicating with two other women in a cinematic porn star position.
As back up arrived, the officer demanded that the participants step out from of the vehicle.The two women were foreigners and the male has since been identified as Mr. Wormick Chergay, a 34 yr old Russian man.
He had been without trousers, his penis fully erect, sitting in the backseat behind the driver’s seat.The two women were completely naked and had alternated between wrist work, fellatio and being penetrated by the man. Movements had been quick and aggressive.
The three love makers were clearly inebriated - and weretaken into custody.
Mr. Chergay insisted that he was a policeman from Russia, on vacation in Pattaya. He admitted to committing inappropriate sexual acts in public, but argued that no charges should be laid, as this sort of thing is acceptable in Russia.
BANGKOK – Mr. Theera Salakphet from the Ministry of culture countered laws prohibiting under aged kids from playing games for more than three hours, believing it to be an impractical solution.
Mr. Theera Salakphet spoke of solutions to game addiction, stating that the laws stopping under eighteens from playing for more than three hours at a time, was not one of them.
“It is just not practical when it comes to reality, because three hours of game time cannot be used to change kids.”
He requested for the government to issue a number of hours that would be more practical for kids.
Authorities responded by stating that the ministry of culture should apply the rule first, and if it works - make the law official.
Mr. Theera insisted that better ways of handling the situation would be to renovate gaming environments, such as painting the gaming centers in white and encouraging schools, families and communities to oversee children’s behavior in order to prevent them from becoming addicted to games.
BANGKOK - Dr. Chathree Banchuen, president at the department of mental health, revealed alarming evidence showing that parents lack the ability to supervise their children, making them seven times more prone to game addiction.He further suggested that by simply talking, hugging, and playing with their children for forty minutes a day, parents could decrease the figure by half.
Mr. Manit Nopamonbodi, a deputy minister at the ministry of public health, stated today, the concern of severe gaming addiction among Thai children; especially in the case of dice-gambling games on mobile phones - which resemble Hi-Low, and other casino games.
Manit said he will be passing on the concern to the ministry of culture for further discussion of a solution.
A survey from the department of mental health found that over 9% of extreme game addiction cases were among children in elementary and early secondary school – with the figure doubling in the past three years.
The department of mental health has warned that if the government does nothing, addictions will become more adverse and more wide spread – as some children have already died playing games, as a result of malnutrition and exhaustion; others have imitated suicidal action games.
It is expected that the number of beggars will rise as children try to find means of feeding their habits and that suicide rates will climb when parents try to prevent them from playing games.
The ministry of public health has assigned the Ratchanakarin Institution of Children’s’ Mental Health and the Department of Mental Health to develop a course called, “Looking after children in the cyber age.”This is a one-day course which has been tested for over four years, and has been understood from surveys of parents, to be a very effective way of reducing game addiction by over 79%.
Results also show that these changes are directly related to changes in parental behavior.The course is also aimed at improving the self-esteem and attitudes of troubled children by over 91%.
There is nothing figurative about local Thai news unless you’re one of those people who find pictures of mangled corpses on the front of newspapers to be subtle with nuance and symbolism. Chances are you’ll simply think it's shocking and even deplorable. In Thailand, there is a great corpus of daily news that never finds its way to a global audience. These graphical, shock-horror renditions of murder, rape, arson and just about every other thing imaginable, are conveyed by the media in raw and uncensored terms. No effort is made to hide even a single missing finger. A smiling serial rapist will be pulled from his jail cell for a photo excursion with the media in order to illustrate how he ravished his victims. Charred corpses from a nightclub fire are shown with melted looks of agony - all the while, news of baby pandas being born at local zoos, along with grand openings of holiday resorts are strewed along the front page with equal weightings - and it’s this jarring combination – that makes the daily headlines of the most powerful newspapers around the country. Every one of those stories is a no-holds-barred assassination of the conservative ideals in Thailand.
It must be said, however, that most of these reports are true and it is because of this truth that we have dedicated ourselves to translating and delivering these reports from Thairath, Daily News, and many more. Bangkok Allegory is a great resource for English-speaking readers who want to supplement their other readings for a better-rounded snapshot of day-to-day news in Thailand.
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