Chonburi –
An intoxicated man allegedly burnt down his own house this week in Chonburi and in the process also destroyed his neighbors home, with whom he had reportedly been having a public feud for some time. The suspect has denied the allegations and claims the entire incident was an accident and has counter-alleged that his neighbors assaulted him following the fire.
Firefighters were notified of the fire in the early morning of Monday, (October 11th) at a community in Baan Maklua in the Ang Sila sub-district
First response teams arrived at the scene to find two houses that were heavily ablaze. It took more than an hour to control the fire. Both homes were reduced to near rubble due to the fire.
The village headwoman Mrs. Tippawan Chaimee, 56, told The Pattaya News team, “The suspect, Mr. Supat Chansri, is a known drug user and is always under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He has made numerous past threats about burning down the village and threatened neighbors many times while intoxicated and high on drugs. We have previously reported this to law enforcement, but no action was taken as Supat had only made what police thought were idle threats while drunk. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case today.”
Ms. Anothat Sakornrat, 44, who is the owner of the other home that burned down as a result of the fire, told TPN media, “My house is next door to Supat’s. Supat has threatened me and my family for no reason at all many times while intoxicated and high. We managed to escape the flames but our home was destroyed. Who will take responsibility for these actions?”
Mr. Supat was taken to the Sane Suk Police Station immediately following the fire. Supat reportedly told police that he did not set fire to his own house and is claiming the entire incident was an accident and that the accusations by his neighbors are false. Supat also complained about his neighbors reportedly physically assaulting him following the fire and blaming him for the damage.
Sane Suk Police stated they will be fully investigating the situation while firefighters have combed the wreckage of both homes this week looking for evidence of potential arson or, if as Supat claims, if the fire was an accident. As of press time, a final cause of the blaze had not been determined.
