Another Pattaya civil-defense volunteer arrested, this time for gunplay, attempted murder

0
1101

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.

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. 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.

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.