Chonburi —
In another successful crackdown on weapons story, the Chonburi police seized a large sachet of firearms and ammunition from a Thai man who liked to show off his guns on social media. The man, however, managed to escape by darting into a nearby forest.
The anti-illegal weapon operation occurred in the Nong Pla Lai sub-district of Banglamung district, Chonburi province. The police officers, armed with a court warrant, raided a house on Friday, July 21st, after receiving information that the male homeowner was hiding a large collection of weaponry inside his dwelling.
The information included pictures of the suspect flaunting his guns on Facebook. After waiting for quite sometime while in hiding, the police finally spotted the suspect, later identified as Mr. Watchara Kamjam, a Thai national, arriving at his house, unaware of their presence.
However, as soon as the police left their hiding spot to arrest the man, Watchara quickly ran and leaped from his house into the forest in his backyard to escape. The police split up and pursued him, but Watchara skillfully managed to evade them using his familiarity with the forest. The police then searched the suspect’s house and discovered the following:
- Glock 19 handguns, one a 9mm caliber and another with an 11mm caliber
- A Remington 870 shotgun
- Nine rounds of 9mm caliber, 15 rounds of 11mm caliber, and 17 rounds of shotgun shells
- Two bulletproof vests and various gun parts
The wife of Watchara was present at the house when the police conducted a search. The police are persuading the wife to talk her husband into surrendering as of press time and did not identify her to the press.
Certainly, this is not the first gun crackdown in Chonburi as the police had just arrested two Thai men for attempting to sell a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver yesterday, July 20th.
The men were baited by the Chonburi police to go to a condominium complex where the police made the arrest. The men tried to sell the weapon for 30,000 baht but eventually had the gun confiscated. Now, they are facing numerous legal charges.
