Manners first; arrest gripe; hole in the heart; price shock

A well-mannered gold thief in Samut Sakhon took his shoes off outside the shop because a sign told him to do so.
 
Somlak Chanthongtae, 32, snatched two necklaces worth four baht in gold weight, or 171,600 baht from a shop in Muang district, near Wat Ketmadi Sriwararam, about 200m from Rama II Road.
Mr Somlak, described in news reports as a “well-mannered thief” for taking off his shoes before entry, left his shoes behind in his haste to leave, police say.
He fled on foot to his motorcycle, which he took to a community nearby. He ditched the bike for a taxi, which he took to a gold shop in Mahachai, where he sold the necklaces for 162,000 baht.
He then took the taxi to Mor Chit bus terminal, where he hopped on an inter-provincial bus for Phrae. Police caught up with Mr Somlak late the same night en route in Phichit as he was going to see his girlfriend, to whom he hoped to get engaged.
He hoped to put the proceeds of his gold theft towards his engagement, but never made it that far. When police nabbed him the money was still intact.
As provincial police took Mr Somlak back to the store for a crime reconstruction, he gave staff a wai by way of apology. “I took my shoes off at the door because the sign told me to,” he said matter-of-factly.
News reports said the gesture showed he was well-mannered and cared for cleanliness, if not for the owner’s gold.
Mr Somlak was visiting his mother in Bang Thorat district. He knew he needed to raise money for his engagement, the reports said, so on Nov 12 decided to rob the store.
He appears to have snatched the gold when staff were distracted. There was no mention of a weapon. He was wearing a top with a hood when he entered but disguised his face with a mere face mask.
Police charged him with theft.
A woman in Chon Buri was shocked to be charged with attempting to kill after she and her boyfriend attacked her old flame for sending a video of her having sex to her young son.
Nong Prue police nabbed Supattra Nimsanguan, 28, for jointly attacking her former boyfriend, identified in news reports as “A”, 32, in early July.
She hit A about the head with a spanner while her new boyfriend, named as Nott (no surname provided) in news reports, kicked him. The pair fled after the attack.
Ms Supattra said she was upset to discover A was married when he was seeing her. When she tried to break up with him, he refused, and in anger sent her 11-year-old son a video he had secretly taken of him and Ms Supattra having sex.
The clip upset her son, who started to cry, she said.
Nott, who she started seeing after breaking up with A, was also angry with A after he chased Nott on his motorbike.
The two decided to get even and attacked A, who was badly injured.
He laid a complaint, and police last week tracked her down. Officers say she admitted the offence only half-heartedly, as she was taken aback by its gravity: a joint charge of premeditated murder. “I thought it would be assault at best,” said Ms Supattra, now five months’ pregnant.
As far as Nott is concerned, since the attack he has been jailed in Pattaya for a drugs offence. No word was to hand on when he would be charged.
Police in Nakhon Ratchasima are looking for the husband of a woman found stabbed and strangled to death on the bed of their home.
Pak Chong police say a neighbour on Nov 11 discovered the body of Sinuan (no surname given), 50, after noticing her absence.
The bedroom was locked, but the neighbour noticed a bad smell so alerted others.
Police forced their way into the bedroom where they found Sinuan’s body covered in a blanket.
She had been stabbed twice in the throat and a fruit knife was lying nearby. Bruises around her neck suggest she was also throttled.
Attempts to find the husband, Bancha, or Deow (no surname given) were unsuccessful, though a relative of the victim’s said Bancha had asked him for a lift earlier that day.
He said he was heading back to his home province of Nakhon Sawan to harvest rice.
The pair, who had been together just six months, were last seen drinking together in front of the house on Nov 9, two days before the body was found.
Police suspect the husband lay with the body overnight before fleeing. Officers found signs the suspect had started digging a hole by the house, possibly to conceal the body, but he had given up on the task.
The soil was hard or he may have been too drunk to finish the job, they said. He pulled a tree over to disguise the hole instead.
The search continues.
A thief in Buri Ram is upset the local mill beat him down in price as he sold them sacks of paddy stolen from a local farmer.
Satuek police nabbed Chinnakorn, 26, for the theft of five bags of rice which fetched 1,800 baht.
He and a friend climbed a wall and helped themselves to paddy stored at a farmer’s home. He hefted the sack up the wall and his mate caught it on the other side. They made off on a motorbike.
Chinnakorn, who pleaded an impoverished childhood as his motive for turning to crime, says he would sell the rice to a local mill and buy ya ba with the proceeds, which he would take with friends.
When the money ran out, he and his mate, who is still on the run, would steal some more.
The young thief complained that when he sold five bags of rice to the mill recently, they paid him just 1,800 baht, 200 baht less than last time.
The Thai Rice Mills Association reported in late September that the average price of paddy rice has fallen by 1,000 baht per tonne. If the economics of rice farming are hurting farmers, paddy thieves are feeling the pain too, in lower prices at the mill.
Police charged him with theft and drugs offences.