Chonburi —
Residents of Huay Yai in Chonburi are living in fear as a series of disturbing incidents involving unruly teenagers is gripping their community.
Over three consecutive nights, from February 3rd to 5th, 2024, a group of approximately 20 youths, believed to be only 13 to 16 years old, terrorized residents of Huay Yai with explosives and firecrackers.
Captured on CCTV, the teenagers, riding more than 10 motorcycles, hurled nearly 10 homemade explosive devices and firecrackers at the home of their rivals in Soi Thetsaban 1. The loud explosions caused distress and disrupted the peace of the neighborhood.
Investigations into the CCTV footage revealed a pattern of escalating aggression. On February 4th at around 00:50 AM, over five loud explosions rocked the area. The following night, between 11 PM and 1 AM on February 5th to 6th, the terror continued with 5-6 explosive devices thrown at a local residence.
The targeted house, a single-story rented residence, bore the brunt of the attacks. Local reporters observed evidence of the assaults including grenade remnants, burn marks on the front of the house, and two non-functional explosive devices – a bottle bomb and a firecracker – both wrapped in thick layers of tape. Additionally, fragments of exploded ping-pong bombs littered the road in front of the house.
Ms. Jeab, the 47-year-old tenant of the targeted house, recounted the harrowing experience to local reporters. She reported that the group of teenagers, numbering around 20-30, had been targeting her house for three nights. The first two nights saw them throwing 5-6 ping-pong bombs, but the final night escalated with the use of both ping-pong bombs and explosive bottles, causing damage to her clothes and blankets hung near the house wall.
Ms. Jeab stated that she has four male teenage children, but they vehemently insisted that they did not have any conflicts with the attacking teenagers nor knew them.
A police investigation into the incident is ongoing.
