Man won the ฿6 million grand prize in June 2019 and returned home to live with his 56-year-old mother. She told police this week that he kept the money to himself but soon began purchasing items for a new lifestyle and took to partying.
A Thai man who won the grand prize in the government’s official lottery last year has already blown nearly all the money in return for chronic drug addiction. He was arrested last week in Si Sa Ket.
A Thai man who won ฿6 million in the official government lottery in June was arrested by police in Sisaket province last week after the police were called in by his panicked mother after he attempted to set fire to her home and extensively thrashed the property including household appliances and the woman’s belongings.
Police and officials rushed to the property following distressed phone calls from 56-year-old Kom Poka after local villagers had intervened to put out an array of fires lit by her 32-year-old son Chainarong Poka after his latest violent outburst.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Prayong Janchin, Inspector of Khukhan Police in Sisaket province, told media sources that the woman had asked them to come and arrest her son who presented as a danger to himself and others.
Losing control daily with a cocktail of drugs and alcohol – a Thai man hell-bent on destruction
The woman told police that her son was daily indulging himself with a mixture of yaba or crystal meths pills and alcohol after becoming addicted to a party lifestyle due to his newfound wealth. After taking the mind-altering substances, he would then become hell-bent on destruction.
Police intervened quickly after hearing wild shouting from the woman’s home after she summoned them
When police pulled up outside the property last week, they heard the young man shouting wildly and aggressively.
Acting out of fear for the woman’s safety, they barged in forcefully restraining the man who took some time to calm down. He admitted to taking two yaba pills while police tests on his urine also confirmed that he had been taking narcotics.
Police quickly unearthed 20 yaba pills in two separate stashes in a search of the property. 10 pills were found a plastic container in a green hoodie garment at the home and a similar packet was found inside the man’s bedroom.
Destruction caused by a son’s rage
The woman showed police the destruction caused by her son’s recent outburst where he had gone berserk and committed arson. She also told them that she feared for her life as he now regularly assaulted her.
Won the lottery while working as a labourer on a Bangkok building site in 2019, returned home
Mr Chainarong had won the grand prize in the lottery in June 2019 while working as a labourer on a building site in Bangkok.
After he cashed the ticket, he decided to retire home to live with his mother.
Ms Kom told police however that he kept the money to himself and began to purchase items for a new lifestyle such as pickup truck. He also bought appliances for the home.
Matters quickly went downhill with a party lifestyle
Then matters took a negative turn when he began to go to parties and took up heavy drinking and the use of crystal meths or yaba pills.
He had since become a drug addict. Ms Kon explained that apart from a small sum which she had managed to have deposited by her son into her own bank account, her son now had only ฿200,000 of the original ฿6 million prize left.
She said that this was because he regularly withdrew amounts for ฿100,000 to ฿200,000 to spend on drug and alcohol binges which often ended in violence and destruction.
No word on charges being faced by the man
Police did not say what charges the woman’s son would face for setting fire to the property, criminal damage or being in possession of illegal drugs.
Thai police have a certain amount of discretion in such matters as do the victims of crime, in this case, the man’s mother.
Even if charged, in recent years, the courts and authorities have been sending first-time drug offenders for rehabilitation rather than to already overcrowded Thai prisons.
Further reading:
Crazed criminal and rapist terrorises foreign nationals on Ko Samui to feed his drug habit
Thai drug dealers go high tech with online social media accounts the key mode of distribution
Thai man burns down his family home: Thailand’s drugs problem is still a very real threat to society
