Pattaya civil-defense volunteer Sala Saamkhung
(left) has been arrested for illegal possession and use of a firearm and is
being held for Khon Kaen law enforcement to answer charges there for
allegedly stabbing his wife.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Yet another Pattaya-area civil-defense volunteer has
landed in police custody, this time for allegedly firing a
semi-automatic handgun while on the run from an attempted murder warrant
in Issan.
Sala Saamkhung, 53, was apprehended outside his
Banglamung house the morning after neighbors alleged he fired nine
rounds into the night sky Dec. 12. Banglamung police seized the
automatic weapon, 46 unspent bullets and 9 shell casings.
After arresting Sala, officers discovered he is
wanted on a January 2009 warrant in Khon Kaen for allegedly stabbing his
wife, then fleeing to Pattaya where he was thought worthy of being put
in charge of protecting the public.
Police said Sala admitted to the shooting, saying he
was drunk when he did it. He was charged with illegal possession and use
of a firearm and is being held for Khon Kaen law enforcement.
The case is the third this autumn involving alleged
illegal activities by Pattaya-area civil-defense volunteers. Last month
two drunk Pattaya and Pratamnak volunteers were involved in a sexual
assault on a woman on Beach Road. A week later, another Pratamnak
volunteer was witnessed beating up a reporter who filmed a story on his
co-worker’s beach incident.