PUBLISHED : 23 Jul 2023 at 04:00
NEWSPAPER SECTION: News
Online gun dealers arrested
crime: Three people were arrested, and two hand-guns and more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition seized in a crackdown on online illegal gun traders, says the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).
Commander Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai said the suspects were nabbed in simultaneous raids at four locations in Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat on Friday following a months-long probe into the “Khote-siang V.7” gun-trading group.
The group had more than 300 members and cash flow of 10 million baht in the past two years and most clients were teenagers in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, he said.
Suspects San Chalawit, 40, Nipon Ruekprasert, 31, and Weerasak Ritthapol, 31, were charged with illegal possession of firearms which both denied.
MP raises bridge fears
Samut Sakhon: A Move Forward Party MP for the province yesterday called on agencies to inspect a bridge on Rama II Road near the Mahachai Muang Mai area amid safety concerns.
Natthapong Sumanotham said he had been alerted by motorists of large cracks and crumbling concrete that could pose a risk to the bridge’s structure.
Mr Natthapong said the authorities must inspect the bridge and address the concerns.
Meanwhile, the Highway Department said it is preparing repair plans for a U-turn flyover in front of Wansawangjit school on Rama II Road.
Safety concerns have been heightened since a 600-metre section of an elevated road project on Luang Phaeng Road in Lat Krabang district collapsed on July 10, killing two people and injuring a dozen others.
14 nabbed in Aem’s ‘network’
Crime: Fourteen people were arrested in connection with an online gambling network in which suspected serial killer Sararat “Aem Cyanide” Rangsiwuthaporn and her ex-husband were customers, police said.
Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy national police chief, said the arrests took place during searches in 11 provinces from July 19–20, after the police looked into the financial transactions of Ms Sararat and her ex-husband, Pol Lt Col Withoon Rangsiwuthaporn.
Pol Gen Surachate said the pair were customers of the “Fun88” gambling network, which had 93 million baht in circulation. Police seized assets worth over 15 million baht, including three luxury cars and brand-name products, he said, adding one of the cars was purchased one day before the arrests.
Warrants were issued for 21 suspects linked to the network. Of these, 14 were rounded up and two others were already serving jail sentences for another case, police said.
Police said one of the 21 suspects who was at large has died and four others remain at large.
Wacky white men a worry
Phuket: Residents have voiced concern after seeing a TikTok video of a foreign man damaging parked vehicles, with some netizens noting a growing frequency of such misbehaviour.
The video posted by user Pookpik409 on Friday shows a Caucasian man throwing random objects and damaging cars parked in front of a convenience store.
According to reports, the man damaged over 10 vehicles, slashing their tyres with a knife.
A TikTok user wrote that the man, dressed in an unbuttoned shirt and jeans, broke off windshield wipers and leapt onto the front windshields of several cars.
Eventually, police arrived at the scene and subdued him using a conducted energy device.
Comments of netizens have mainly centred on the growing frequency of disturbing public incidents involving foreigners.
One commenter also referenced a recent incident in which a Russian man leapt to his death from a local temple roof.
The man’s identity was withheld.