Ex-boyfriend on the warpath
A Chon Buri woman shot by her marauding ex-boyfriend sheltered a friend from his wrath as he opened fire on them in front of a Pattaya hotel. She managed to spare her friend's life, but in the process lost her own.
Jutathip Ahyuyuen, 32, a dancer at a local pub, was shot twice to the nape of the neck outside a hotel in North Pattaya Road in Bang Lamung district. She had stayed there the previous two nights after her ex-boyfriend, Putthajak Muleethe, 37, a fitness trainer, attacked her at her family home the week before.
A CCTV camera at her home shows Putthajak jumping on Jutathip as she drove up to her house. He pressed to her neck a device for administering electric shocks. The CCTV vision shows her dragging her body along the ground as she begs for air. After that horrendous ordeal, Jutathip complained to local police, but Putthajak's parents apologised on his behalf and the two sides settled the matter.
Jutathip, still worried about her safety, decided to leave home and move into the hotel. Her employer arranged for two staff to escort her to the hotel for her own safety each night after work. On the night of the shooting, she was also accompanied by a friend, Apassanun Trisopin, 31.
CCTV vision shows Jutathip and Apassanun arriving at the hotel in a sedan. They were followed by a man travelling on a motorbike behind, who acted as their escort. Another man travelled inside the car itself for their protection.
When they arrive at the carpark, the man in the car gets out, farewells the women, and leaves on the back of the other man's motorcycle. However, CCTV from on the street behind them shows Putthajak was also quietly tailing the vehicle as it headed to the hotel.
As soon as the women were alone, Putthajak parks his motorcycle, runs towards them and opens fire. Apassanun said Jutathip grabbed her heroically in an embrace to shield her from the bullets. Both fell to the ground, with Apassanun playing dead.
Putthajak fired twice, hitting Jutathip twice in the back of the neck. CCTV shows him running away without saying a word. Rescue workers patched up Jutathip and sent her to hospital, but she died from her injuries. They found Apassanun unhurt but in a state of shock.
The saga came to a brutal end shortly after when Putthajak shot himself in the head with his .38 calibre handgun alongside a Korean-style eatery nearby. His Honda motorcycle was found next to his body.
Jutathip's father, unnamed in news reports, said the couple were together three-and-a-half years and argued often. He told Putthajak to stay away from his daughter as long ago as last year, and paid him a 50,000 baht debt he claimed Jutathip owed him.
However, Putthajak refused to leave his daughter alone, attacking her at their home with the electric shock device and again at the hotel. Putthajak's mother said Jutathip and her son broke up about a month ago, with media reports saying Jutathip asked to end the relationship as she caught Putthajak being unfaithful.
Conniving ex-GF lays trap
A Rayong woman acted as a cold-blooded decoy, luring her ex-boyfriend into a trap so her new boyfriend could settle scores with him.
Charupha (no surname given), or Bam, 19, contacted her ex-boyfriend, Noppawat Ngachang, 24, last week claiming she had argued with her new lover and asking if he could sleep at her place to keep her company.
First, however, she asked if they could meet for a meal. Mr Noppawat, who suspected nothing was amiss, agreed. Ms Bam, he said, picked him up at his place and took him to a nearby eatery. There, her new boyfriend, Phakphoom "Aon" Ratcheewin, 22, and a young friend, Naphat "Kew" Suwan, 18, sprang from out of the shadows and confronted him.
First, ringleader Mr Phakphoom shot at Mr Noppawat, but his intended target managed to swat the weapon away. Abandoning that plan, Mr Phakphoom, accompanied by Ms Bam and Mr Naphat, then set upon the victim, kicking and beating him until he was unconscious. They left him for dead by the side of the road and fled.
Someone saw Mr Noppawat and called rescue workers, who sent him to hospital. Mr Noppawat, who has a fractured skull, was told he'd need an operation to relieve bleeding on his brain.
However, while waiting for his operation he was able to tell police what happened, who proceeded to arrest the trio.
The three admitted attacking Mr Noppawat, with ringleader Mr Phakphoom claiming he and the victim ran into each over Songkran, and exchanged hostile looks. He asked his girlfriend's help to set up the attack.
The victim lives with his grandmother, Latnee Suaysod, 61, who earlier appealed to the media for help, saying the case was making slow progress.
As police met to plan the arrests, Ms Bam was the first to surrender, after her father intervened. She led police to the other two.
When the victim's relatives heard of the arrests, they raced to the station hoping to confront the trio, media reports said. However, police had already taken them in for questioning and they missed their chance.
They did manage to escort ailing Mr Noppawat from hospital so he could identify the trio as the culprits.
That done, they carried him back to his motorcycle. A group of five including the victim squeezed onto the bike for his trip back to hospital.
Police found a spent shell from a .380 calibre gun in soi 1, Rajbamrung Road close to the carpark entrance of the Happy Zone restaurant where the attack occurred. They seized the Thai-modified gun at Mr Phakphoom's place.
Police charged the suspects with firearms offences and assault causing serious harm.
Don't mind my plastic gun
A Kalasin security guard is winning praise for tackling a bank robber who earlier demanded 1 million baht from customers but also added he would not harm them.
Security guard Mongkol Phuying, 55, said he jumped on Yothin Kortwong, 25, after he walked into a department store branch of Kasikornbank where he works and demanded the money.
Two customers were present at the time. "I want 1 million baht -- but I won't do anything," said the timorous bank robber, who admitted later he was new to this kind of thing.
He had invested 99 baht in a fake sub-machine gun which he wore on his waist. Mr Mongkol said he could tell it was fake and noticed from the robber's demeanour that this was probably his first time.
So, he took him at his word that he wouldn't do anything and subdued the man. He and a customer tied him up while bank staff called the police.
Mr Yothin, who works as a cashier for a petrol station, regularly deposits the station's earnings in its bank account.
However, lately he had been diverting the cash to his own account to feed his online gambling habit.
Recently he ran into trouble after running up a 300,000 baht gambling debt (30,000 baht, according to some contradictory reports), so on a whim decided to rob the bank.
Police found 70,000 baht under his motorcycle seat, which the suspect said belonged to his employer.
He planned to add that to the proceeds from the bank heist to pay off his debt and also help raise his three-year-old child. Police charged him with theft.
