NAKHON SAWAN – An elderly man narrowly escaped death after someone planted a homemade bomb at his front gate, linked to a row over a teenage relationship and alleged blackmail involving his 15-year-old grandson and a 14-year-old girl.
On Monday, Pol Lt Col Niphat Meemusim, deputy superintendent of investigation at Lat Yao Police Station, received a report from Ms Thanyaporn Bangsanit, aged 45, that an unknown person had tied an explosive device to the front gate of her house in Lat Yao district, Nakhon Sawan.
The bomb had already gone off, but no one was hurt. Police immediately called in forensic officers to inspect the scene.
Pol Lt Col Niphat told reporters the house is a two-storey wooden building, fenced around the property. At the front gate, officers found traces of nylon line used to tie the device, along with scattered fragments of metal, nails, and nuts on the ground in front of the house.
Mr Somchai Sonmao, aged 70, father of Ms Thanyaporn, told police that he went out early in the morning to open the gate as usual. As soon as he moved the gate, he heard a loud blast like an explosion, followed by metal fragments hitting the gate and the road.
He said he was badly shocked but very lucky. At the moment he opened the gate, he pulled it inward, which helped shield him from the shrapnel. The gate also had a fine wire mesh fixed to it, which helped block the fragments.
He believed that if he had been standing outside the gate, he would have been seriously injured, as the force of the blast was directed straight at the entrance.
Ms Thanyaporn said that at the time of the incident, she heard a very loud bang and rushed out to see what had happened. She saw white smoke billowing in front of the house and found her father in a state of shock.
She recorded a video clip as evidence, then called the police. She insisted that most people living in the house are elderly and that the family has never had conflicts with neighbours, so she had no idea who would have planted a bomb at their gate.
From the first inspection, police concluded that the device was a homemade bomb. They believed the intent was to harm someone in the house.
Officers brought in Ms Thanyaporn’s 15-year-old son for questioning after receiving information that he had a dispute with a group of youths from another village involving a relationship issue and alleged blackmail, which may have sparked anger and led to the bombing.
Later, police detained a 16-year-old suspect named Bank for questioning. From the investigation, officers learned that Jack, aged 15, Ms Thanyaporn’s son, had been involved with a 14-year-old girl who is the girlfriend of a 23-year-old man named Keng, from Huai Nam Hom subdistrict.
When Keng found out, he allegedly began to threaten Jack and demand money, about 200 to 300 baht each time, on several occasions.
The demands reportedly escalated when someone contacted Jack’s mother, claiming to be a relative of the girl, and demanded 80,000 baht in compensation in exchange for not filing a statutory rape complaint.
When they did not receive the money, the group allegedly decided to plant the bomb at the family’s home, with the Bank present at the scene.
He told police that he had gone with Keng but did not know beforehand that a bomb would be tied to Jack’s gate. He claimed he was forced to go along just to keep Keng company. After the explosion, Keng allegedly fled the area at once.
Police later reported that they had managed to arrest Keng in Pathum Thani province. Officers are in the process of bringing him back to Lat Yao Police Station for questioning before taking legal action.
