BANGKOK: As the international media has been puzzling recently over the mystery of why five dismembered human feet have washed up on the beaches of British Columbia over the past year – the most recent find being on June 16 – Thailand now has its own body-part puzzle to ponder: a severed arm found on the tracks at Hualamphong Railway Station in the heart of Bangkok on June 12.

After spotting the rather rotten arm lying on the track at 2:10 pm, a passenger notified station officers.

A closer inspection by police, a doctor and rescue volunteers determined that the missing limb was a right arm severed at the elbow, most probably from a woman.

From the decayed state and foetid stench of the limb, police believe it was severed from its owner about five days before its discovery.

The arm, blackened and covered in oil, had no tattoos, jewelery or other markings that might aid identification.

Maj Sirirat Kongthanajirakul, an inspector with the Railway Police, said the original owner was most likely a women owing to the size of the arm and the shape of the fingers.

As for how it found its way to the station, Maj Sirirat said that she didn’t believe the limb’s owner was murdered.

No attempt had been made to conceal the arm or hide its identity, so it was unlikely that someone had chopped it off and thrown it on the track in order to dispose of it, she explained.

A more likely explanation, Maj Sirirat explained, is that the owner was hit by the train. The force likely severed the limb, which got stuck to the train’s undercarriage – where it remained until it stopped in Hualamphong, where it finally fell onto the tracks.

Despite this hypothesis, police have not ruled out the possibility that the body part’s owner was an assault victim. Police have contacted all of Thailand’s train stations to check for any reports of recent accidents on the tracks.

When he was asked for a comment on the grisly find, Maj Gen Chokchai Deeprasert, commander of the Railway Police, said that he wouldn’t like to speculate because the incident had not been reported to him and he didn’t know all the details.

NONG KHAI: As every good clergyman knows, improper sexual conduct is a quick way to get defrocked – cast out of the Buddhist clergy.

Perhaps sensing that his own defrockment was inevitable, one naughty abbot in Tha Bor District decided to beat his detractors to the punch.

At a meeting of villagers and local religious authorities to discuss allegations of sexual impropriety against him, he showed his contempt by lifting up his robe and giving the assembled a good look at the organ that had got him in trouble in the first place.

The problem stemmed from the alleged relationship between Phra Wanchai Mahapanyo, 35, abbot of Wat Khok Klang in Tambon Nakha, and a married devotee, 44-year-old Lampang Khambai.

Lampang’s husband, 43-year-old Wichai Khambai, told police that he and Lampang have been married for almost 20 years and that they have two children together.

They never had any problems in their marriage until last year, when Wichai went to work on a construction site in Bangkok, he told police.

When he came back to Nakha, friends and relatives told him that while he had been away, his wife was rarely at home and seemed to spend nearly all of her time in Phra Wanchai’s room.

At first Wichai didn’t believe what people were telling him, he said. However, late one night, Lampang asked if she could go to the temple, which made him suspicious. A couple of days later, on May 29, Lampang again asked if she could go and visit the temple in the evening.

When it became late and she was still not back, Wichai decided to take action.

He gathered up a posse of friends and relatives, who took up positions around Phra Wanchai’s room in the temple to see what was going on.

Nothing happened until dawn, when Phra Wanchai emerged from his cell. Wichai rushed up to him, demanding to know the whereabouts of his wife.

Phra Wanchai denied having seen her that night and, according to Wichai, then pushed him out of the way and punched him in the face.

Wichai’s friends rushed in to break up the scuffle, at which point Lampang strolled out of the monk’s room as if nothing at all was amiss.

As often happens in small Thai villages, news of the incident spread quickly.

Before long, the kamnan (tambon chief) of Nakha, Phemphun Meuncharoen, and the local dean, Phrakhru Praphatson Praphatsaro, rushed to the scene to invite all concerned to a meeting at the house of Lampang’s mother, Noolee Burikham.

The villagers unanimously called for Phra Wanchai to be defrocked on the spot for his behavior, at which point the abbot suddenly stood up, lifted up his robes and waggled his genitals around in the startled faces of his accusers.

Being a media-savvy village, many of those present whipped out mobile phones to get photos and videos of the scene. With the shocking incident duly recorded in digital format, Phra Wanchai fled the room and sped off in his pickup truck.

Wichai, still smarting from his confrontation with Phra Wanchai, reported the altercation at the Tha Bor Police Station, where he filed a complaint accusing the abbot of assault.

At about 2 pm that afternoon, Phra Wanchai turned himself in at the station and admitted to punching Wichai in the face. He was fined 1,000 baht and released.

Villagers also filed complaints to the local Sangha authorities, who have launched an investigation into Phra Wanchai’s conduct.

The following day, the images of Phra Wanchai appeared on the front page of the country’s top-selling newspaper, Thai Rath, the editorial staff of which chose to blur out the offending organ.

SAPHAN BURI: Being forced into a loveless marriage is an unhappy fate for any girl to endure, but not everyone takes the situation lying down.

After being forced to marry the son of a wealthy local cattle owner, one young woman from Suphan Buri managed to escape with not only her freedom, but also the 400,000-baht sin sot (bride price) as well.

The story came to light on May 27, when the bride’s mother, 40-year-old Kamlai Thirakaow, contacted the press to enlist its help in locating her daughter, 19-year-old Walee.

The bride had disappeared nine days earlier on her wedding night, along with the all-important sin sot.

With tears of anguish streaming down her cheeks, K. Kamlai told reporters that on May 17, Walee had wed 23-year-old Sunet Kamlangdee, whose family had paid her a bride price of cash and gold worth about 400,000 baht.

After the wedding reception, the couple went back to Sunet’s home– presumably to consummate their union.

The next evening, Walee slipped out of the house with the sin sot, which her mother had yet to collect, and had not been seen since, K. Kamlai said.

K. Kamlai said that Sunet had told her that on the evening of May 18, he had been lying in bed with Walee when she got up claiming she needed to use the toilet. The next thing he heard, however, was the sound of a motorbike being driven away at speed. When he got up to investigate, he found that the 150,000 baht in cash and 12 bahtweight of gold sin sot had gone.

Immediately suspicious that her daughter’s ex-boyfriend had something to do with the disappearing act, K. Kamlai decided to bring the law in and reported the incident to Bang Pla Ma Police Station.

The reason she thought the ex-boyfriend was involved was that Sunet had told her that on the wedding night, a man had rung up and threateningly said, “We’ll soon see who will really get Walee.”

Through the press, K. Kamlai appealed for Walee to come home and discuss the issue with her family, who are now obliged to repay Sunet’s family.

Lt Col Bunyang Bun-eam, an investigating officer at Bang Pla Ma Police Station, said that Walee’s relatives had come to the station to ask for help in finding her, but had not yet asked to press charges against anyone.

Police questioned Walee’s ex-boyfriend, who had not run away, and two other friends. All denied any involvement in her disappearance. Walee called Col Bunyan a few days after the incident had been reported to police, insisting that her ex-boyfriend had nothing to do with it. She also asked him to persuade her mother not to press charges, he said.

At last report, police were trying to track down the runaway bride through their network of informants.

A source in the police said that Walee had been with her ex-boyfriend for a number of years, since they were in school together.

When Sunet became interested in her, she was forced to marry him after a six-month engagement.

BANGKOK: The world of Thai clay-pigeon shooting has been rocked by the daily desecration of one of the sport’s club headquarters in Hua Mak.

Coinciding with a group of homosexual patrons using the range for open-air trysts, shooters have had to gingerly tread around a sea of discarded condoms.

While you may think that this reporter is exaggerating what could be a case of one or two discarded johnnies – a common enough sight in many urban areas in this day and age – to beef up a story on a slow news day, photos published in our Thai-language sister paper Kom Chad Luek attest to the true extent of the problem. In the interest of protecting the sensibilities of unsuspecting readers – and editors – the Gazette has opted to forgo printing the unsavory images.

A reporter from Kom Chad Luek headed to the shooting range, which belongs to the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and serves as the headquarters for the Skeet and Trap Shooting Association of Thailand, after receiving a tip-off of the nightly rendezvous at the range.

On reaching the range, he was greeted with the sight of fish in a pond happily nibbling away on the many floating love bags that had been thrown in.

Under a bo tree next to the clay-pigeon trap, there were also many of these scattered around with abandon, many looking fresh, as if they had only recently been used.

One clay-pigeon enthusiast, who asked for anonymity, said that every evening when shooting was done for the day, about 10 to 15 gay men would begin to gather around the range.

Some would mess around on the bridge along the edge of the pond, while others would wander to the adjacent park, all the while making noise and bothering others wanting to use the facilities. Park workers tried to chase them away, but the unruly humpers refused to leave, the shooter added.

Every morning, following the nocturnal romps, prophylactics are strewn around the range, the man continued. Sometimes, when people are shooting, they step on a freshly loaded bag, which really puts them off their shots, the interviewee lamented.

Wirawan Phojanwaraphong of the SAT said the shooting range was the responsibility of the Skeet & Trap Shooting Association of Thailand and that sometimes they may not look after it as well as they might. From now on, they would increase security on the range and dig a moat to prevent unauthorized people gaining access, he said.

K. Wirarawan added that the shooting range is not the only SAT venue facing this problem. “Apart from the shooting range, the area around Rajamangala National Stadium is also being used for illicit sex. We are now cracking down on it, though. If any unauthorized people are caught there after 6pm they will immediately be charged with trespassing,” she said.

SONGKHLA: It’s always worth keeping in mind the phrase caveat emptor, or “let the buyer beware”, when making any purchase.

The warning should be especially well heeded when the item under consideration is somewhat less than 100% legit.

This sage advice must have been far from the mind of one wannabe tough guy in Haad Yai, however, when he paid 15,000 baht for a bag that ended up containing nothing more than an old pestle and a few rocks.

On the afternoon of May 8, Phongsakon Niamhom walked into Haad Yai Police Station and told a tale of woe to duty officer Pol Lt Somchai Hatkhaja.

Phongsakon, 28, told the officer that he had long wanted to own his very own gun; he did not tell the policeman why he wanted a firearm, however.

Not knowing how to go about getting hold of such a weapon, he mentioned it to a motorcycle-taxi driver on Sriphuwanat Rd Soi 10, whose service he often used.

Motorcycle drivers tend to play the same role in Thai society as The Yellow Pages do in the West, so it comes as no surprise that the driver, later identified as 30-year-old Wichian Rakkhlai, knew just the person to fix his customer with a gun.

Before long, Wichian came back with a young woman called Saow, who identified herself as an Army Ranger.

A bit short of cash, Saow said she would sell him a pistol complete with license and registration for 20,000 baht.

Phongsakon agreed to the price and Wichian drove Saow off to go and buy the “gun”.

A little while later, Wichian and Saow returned with a little black bag that Sow claimed contained the gun. Somehow, she made Phongsakon promise not to look in it until she had left. When Phongsakon asked to see the paperwork, Saow said that she hadn’t brought it with her, but would return with it the next day.

A little put off at this, Phongsakon said that he would give her 15,000 baht for the gun alone and hand over the 5,000-baht balance when she gave him the license.

Happily agreeing to this, Saow took the cash and then rushed off with Wichian again.

After the pair had left, Phongsakon felt it was safe to take a peek at his purchase. When he opened the bag, however, he found not a shiny pistol, but a pestle and five or six stones, all wrapped in two T-shirts.

Filled with anger, Phongsakon rushed to the police station to report the fraud. Officers accompanied him back to the taxi stand to hunt for Wichian. After a short wait, Wichian came back to his spot and was duly arrested.

Wichian claimed he was merely the driver and said he knew nothing of the scam. Police charged him with fraud. As this went to press, they were still hunting for the elusive Saow.

It had not been reported whether any action would be taken against Phongsakon for attempting to buy a firearm.