PHUKET: A man high on kratom who tried to beat an ATM machine into submission after he forgot his PIN number was later found asleep by police outside his apartment in southern Phuket.
Sompon Kakina, 22, who told officers from Chalong Police Station that he was from Krabi and worked as a ''secretary'' to a Phuket tour guide, faces the equivalent of assault and battery charges for his machine rage.
A session downing illicit kratom leaves mixed with energy drink with friends ended in darkness early yesterday when Khun Sompon headed for home, stopping off first at the Big One supermarket in Rawai intent on withdrawing 500 baht from his bank account at an ATM.
The machine failed to cooperate so Khun Sompon attacked it with a cement block.
Putting his hand in the hole he had created through the screen, Khun Sompon hoped to withdraw a fistful of cash.
However, all his hard work with the cement block had merely granted him access to discarded printouts of customers' account status - not considered to be legal tender anywhere.
Even though Khun Sompon had his motorcycle helmet on during the entire beating, police managed to quickly identify him from security camera footage and traced him to an apartment block about 1pm yesterday.
Khun Sompon was found asleep in the car park at the apartment block. It's not clear whether he failed to work the doorknob or slumber overwhelmed him first.
Sompon Kakina, 22, who told officers from Chalong Police Station that he was from Krabi and worked as a ''secretary'' to a Phuket tour guide, faces the equivalent of assault and battery charges for his machine rage.
A session downing illicit kratom leaves mixed with energy drink with friends ended in darkness early yesterday when Khun Sompon headed for home, stopping off first at the Big One supermarket in Rawai intent on withdrawing 500 baht from his bank account at an ATM.
The machine failed to cooperate so Khun Sompon attacked it with a cement block.
Putting his hand in the hole he had created through the screen, Khun Sompon hoped to withdraw a fistful of cash.
However, all his hard work with the cement block had merely granted him access to discarded printouts of customers' account status - not considered to be legal tender anywhere.
Even though Khun Sompon had his motorcycle helmet on during the entire beating, police managed to quickly identify him from security camera footage and traced him to an apartment block about 1pm yesterday.
Khun Sompon was found asleep in the car park at the apartment block. It's not clear whether he failed to work the doorknob or slumber overwhelmed him first.
In EU, many of us do not carry cash, as vitually PIN & chip technology has taken over as the method of paying, which I hope will become 100%. The need to carry or withdraw cash is almost obselete, and therefore ATM's are closing (due to lack of use). It also reduces crime, as most places do not carry large amounts of cash, nor do banks (surprisingly). One hopes Thailand will also follow suit, though I suspect they are a long way off from adopting this modern system.
Posted by reader on August 4, 2015 11:17