THE ICEMAN COMETH

NAKHON PATHOM: One of the primary targets in the Government's war on drugs
are dealers of ya bah (methamphetamine), one form of which is the highly
addictive recrystalised form, known as "ice".

But if the tale told by a man in Nakorn Pathom's Muang District is to be
believed, dealers in ice made from water are now being targeted by unknown
hitmen, too =AD perhaps indicating that the War on Drugs has taken an
unexpected turn for the worse.

On March 31, 25-year-old Samran Singthong of tambon Thanong was going about
his daily work routine, delivering ice in his saleng (a three-wheel pig
transporter, a motorcycle with a crude sidecar).

At 10:30 am he made a delivery to 99 Hotel in tambon Charrok (Editor's
note: Hotels with names like 69, 89,and 99 are invariably "short time" hotels).

After making the delivery, he stopped off at the nearby home of his elder
brother.

As he was getting back onto his conveyance, two men dressed in black,
wearing gloves and helmets, pulled up about five meters away on an
unlicensed red Honda Wave motorcycle.

From there, the man riding pillion fired two rounds at K. Samran's chest
before speeding off.

When police arrived, they found a hole in K. Samran's clothing and a bruise
on his skin, but no penetrating wound. A crowd of excited villagers had
gathered around the man.

"I felt pain on my chest and vomited blood after the criminals escaped,"
the human target told the officers

"I thought I had already died and was witnessing my actions from the spirit
world. But when I checked myself there was no bullet in my chest, just this
bruise and a hole in my shirt," he told the police.

"I believe I was saved by the magical properties of the ko amulet that
always hangs from a chain around my neck. I wear it to protect myself from
harm," he added proudly.

But one officer found more holes in K. Samran's story than he did in the
man's shirt.

A thorough search of the scene failed to turn up any bullet casings and
nobody in the area heard gunshots. The only evidence found to corroborate
his story was a spread of bloody vomit.

Chief Investigator Pol Capt Chayut Phiphattaweekul, of Nakhon Pathom Police
Station, said he was not convinced that K. Samran had been shot =AD and if
he had, it must have been by an airgun.

Bullets, after all, aren't generally known to bounce off human flesh.

Buddha amulet expert Yutthachai Phathomwatthanasiri said the Luang Por
Ngurn amulets were issued in 1963.

They have become popular among hoodlums, thugs and goons who think they
have the power to stop bullets. They are commonly referred to as liang go
(gangster coins).

Although the Buddha tried to enlighten his followers and free them from the
suffering and ignorance, the sale in these trinkets is a multi-billion baht
business in Thailand.

The monks who issue them are the greatest beneficiaries.