A mentally disturbed man was beaten to death early yesterday after he destroyed a much revered Brahman statue at the Erawan Shrine -- one of Bangkok's most popular places of worship, police and eyewitnesses said.
Thanakorn Pakdeepol, 27, was found dead in a pool of blood outside the shrine shortly after he attacked the sacred image at 1am, police said. He was beaten to death with a steel bar.
"I saw him climb over the fence and use a hammer to smash the statute," said Wandee Vichai, 42, a vendor who was one of the few eyewitnesses to the incident.
PHOTO: EPA
"I started to scream and some trash collectors came out and chased after the man. When I caught up with them he was lying dead on the pavement," Wandee said.
Lumpinee Police Colonel Supisarn PakdeeNarunart said two suspects had been arrested for Thanakorn's slaying.
The victim's father Saiyan Pakdeepol said his son had suffered from mental illness for several years and was nervous and depressed on Monday, one of Bangkok's hottest days so far this season with temperatures reaching 39oC.
Saiyan said his son had a breakdown and ran out of the house at midnight.
The incident, coming at a time of great political upheaval in Thailand, was immediately hailed by some as an inauspicious sign for embattled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"This is a very unlucky omen, especially since the perpetrator was crazy and was killed after committing the sacrilege," said Samridh Kaokrieng, a well-known astrologer who once served as the prime minister's private fortune teller.
"This is a sign that if the prime minister doesn't resign the country must sacrifice blood," Samridh said.
The fortune teller recently lost his job with Thaksin after he informed the premier that the stars were not in his favor and he should step down.
Mass protests calling for the prime minister's resignation have been escalating in the capital since Jan. 23, when Thaksin's family sold off their 49 percent stake in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings, an investment arm of the Singapore government.
The US$1.9 billion sale has sparked a nationalistic backlash among many Thais who have criticized the premier for handing over sensitive sectors to a foreign firm.
Shin Corp holds government-granted concessions to run Thailand's largest mobile phone service, the national satellite network, a TV station, an Internet service and a no-frills airline.
The Erawan Shine stands next to the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in central Bangkok. The shrine was built in 1956, one year after the original government-owned Erawan Hotel was opened as one of the capital's first international-class establishments.
Rear Admiral Luang Suwichanphaet, a specialist in astrology, advised the hotel management to construct the shrine with the Thao Maha Brahma statue, also known as Phra Prom, on the corner of its property to ensure good fortune.
The Erawan Hotel was bought by the Hyatt hotel group about 14 years ago.
The shrine is a popular place of worship for Buddhists and Hindus from Thailand and abroad, especially among tourists from Hong Kong and Singapore.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS