Feng shui conman thrives, newbie robber wets self, Eve in court – Bangkok Post

Traders' bad luck turns worse

Police are looking for a fake fortune teller who preyed upon Pattaya traders, promising to realign the feng shui of their outlets and improve their fortunes before making off with 2.3 million baht worth of vehicles they let him borrow.

Half a dozen victims of the conman, identified as Jeerawat Rojmaneekorn, 50, complained last week to Nong Prue police in Chon Buri when they realised they had been duped.

Jeerawat managed to con victims out of 17 motorcycles and one car, mostly on loan. Soon after getting his hands on the vehicles, Jeerawat would flee with them, leaving the owners with the burden of repaying the financing debt. Reports say total damages come to 2.3 million baht.

Reports say Jeerawat, who dresses in red and gold to convey the image of a Chinese expert in horoscopes and has the gift of the gab, would make contact with victims, some of them Pattaya bar owners, and strike up a rapport.

Some victims were struggling with poor sales at the time, and fell for his line that their outlet's feng shui was wrong. He would offer to realign it, perform a ceremony adorned with fake gold and food offerings to the gods, and later seize the chance to persuade the owners to part with vehicles.

One victim, Charoenrat, says Jeerawat conned him out of a Mazda 3 worth 1.1 million baht. He said he set up a spririt house at his home and asked Jeerawat to check its feng shui. Jeerawat performed a ceremony for his place and said he should transfer his name onto the title deed. He also asked to sleep at the house for three nights to seek the spirits' forgiveness.

Later, Charoenrat disclosed he wanted to buy a car as a gift for his son, who was finishing his studies. Jeerawat said he knew of a caryard in Bangkok and offered to make contact for him. In September, he said he would need a down payment of 50,000 baht for the Mazda, and had him sign over authoriity to pick it up.

"A week later, he drove the car to my place, but said he had no vehicle of his own and asked to borrow it. I agreed. In December he said the Mazda had been in a scrape and took it in for repairs. Later, when I asked after the vehicle, he said someone had made off with it. On March 4, he disappeared, and I was left with back payments of 14,000 baht a month and no car," Charoenrat said.

Another victim, Kittiya, said she bought a bike worth 160,000 baht last August. Jeerawat claimed the red and black colours of her bike were unlucky and he would get the vehicle inscribed with Chinese lettering to ward off danger. When she went to retrieve the bike, he asked to borrow it and take over repayments. She let him, as she had many other bikes, and he had offered to fix her beer bar's feng shui, which he claimed was acting as a drag on sales.

Later, he claimed he had given her bike to a caryard which leased the vehicle out to foreigners. He made one repayment of 4,000 baht in December before disappearing with the bike.

Krissana, another victim, said she lost a Honda Click worth 77,000 baht to Jeerawat's cunning. He made just five repayments, leaving her with another 24 payments of 2,570 a month.

In a moment of unusual candour, Jeerawat said he couldn't buy a vehicle himself as he was once arrested for robbery. She took it out for him, and is now saddled with the debt burden and no bike. She did not believe her life has improved since he fixed her stars.

Another victim, Auna, who said she met Jeerawat at a time when sales from her business were slow, said she lost a motorcycle worth 130,000 baht. She said Jeerawat claimed the registration of her bike was unlucky as it contained a zero. He took the bike to get the registration changed to include an "8" and inscribed with Chinese lettering.

He asked to borrow the bike to order goods he would need for a religious ceremony but failed to return it. "Finally he claimed the vehicle was involved in an accident and took it in for repairs but later disappeared," she said.

Another victim, Worapoj "Aun" Weerapan, 35, says Jeerawat faked leasehold papers for his beer bar and with them borrowed 90,000 baht from underground lenders. He found out about the debt when collectors turned up at his bar. His bar in Pattaya was in trouble, and he placed an ad on Facebook offering to lease it. He said Jeerawat made contact with him on FB and offered to perform a ceremony to improve its feng shui. Later, he took off with the ownership papers. He also ran up a 20,000 baht bill for alcohol in his name.

Nong Prue police chief Pol Col Chiddecha Songhong said police are preparing to seek an arrest warrant for Jeerawat, whom he said has an outstanding warrant for fraud in Nong Khai from several years ago.

Sleepy shop hosts scared robber

Netizens are marvelling at how a novice gold shop robber managed to walk unchallenged into a gold shop in Trat wearing a motorcycle helmet, seconds before threatening a staff member with a homemade gun.

Security footage taken from inside the Yaowarat Gold Shop in Muang district on Tuesday shows the young thief pulling up on a motorcycle outside the shop, and calmly entering with his helmet still on. A staff member is shown slowly rising to her feet as if to serve him. Seconds later the thief pulls out a gun and demands she hand over the gold.

Off-camera, an alert staff member runs into the back room and sounds an alarm linked to the local police station. The alarm sets off an ear-splitting siren, which sends the young man into a panic.

He is shown scrambling out the shop, stumbling and almost putting his head through the glass door as he does so. News reports say he wet himself in his panic and slipped on his own urine trail.

The footage shows the young man, who left empty-handed, making off on his bike, later found abandoned on a forest road. Police say it had no registration plate and had recently been spray-painted red to disguise its real colour. The robber's gloves, shoes and jacket were in the under-seat compartment.

The next day, having seen publicity of the failed robbery, relatives of the young man brought him in to the police. They charged Nareunat "Paeb" Kaemnum, 23, from Samran beach district, with attempted robbery. He told them he was stressed after recently losing his job. He borrowed the bike for the robbery from his girlfriend's elder sister; the gun, which he abandoned near his rental home, was his own.

Security footage taken from inside the Yaowarat Gold Shop in Muang, Trat.

On the internet, netizens asked why the staff member did not immediately ask the young man to take off his helmet. Others suggested gold shops should instal automatic doors which can be locked by staff inside at the first sign of trouble.

"The woman behind counter looks too cool to be true. If it was me and I saw someone enter with a motorcycle helmet on, I'd know he was there to steal the gold," one wrote.

The staff member told the media she thought he was an ordinary customer, although she wondered why he kept his helmet on. He also wore a sanitary mask underneath, though it was pulled to one side.

On a more humorous note, netizens suggested the young man go back to "robbery school" so he can learn how it's done. "He was bold enough to rob a gold shop, but fled when the siren went off?" one asked. "Unbelievable." Others said his lack of skill gave all gold shop robbers a bad name.

'Python' gets new lease on life

Sek Loso's former live-in lover, model Apisaya "Eve" Pattanaworasap, has stepped up her legal action against the rocker's ex-wife and her former sideckick, after they forced her out of Sek's home last year.

Apisaya 'Eve' Pattanaworasap and inset, Sek Loso

Eve last week visited the Criminal Court in Min Buri to pursue one of a handful of defamation cases she is taking against Sek's ex-wife Wiphakorn "Kan" Sukpimai, mother to his three oldest children, and Sek's second wife, Paphada "Sandwich" Chotikawanitch.

Kan and former Channel 7 actress Sandwich, who have since fallen out -- just as Kan fell out with model Eve before her -- ganged up to force Eve from Sek's home last August, broadcasting the eviction on Facebook live. Kan initially declared that she and Sandwich would live together with Sek, helping the ailling rocker revive his sagging career after a battle with bipolar disorder.

Sek Loso

However, Sandwich later moved out with her young son, Leon, after Kan challenged the actress to get the child's DNA tested amid doubts over whether Sek is the father.

Critics say Kan is manoeuvering herself back into pole position as Sek's main caregiver and spouse. The rocker has said little about the dispute.

Meanwhile, Eve said she turned up at the court last week to press defamation claims stemming from her eviction, in which Kan made unflattering comments about her on FB and later turned her remarks during the drama into a satirical song.

She said she welcomed the court's decision to accept the case in its entirety, which will now proceed to a hearing on April 9 in which both Kan and Sandwich will have to testify. Only one, Sandwich, turned up last week. She emerged from the courthouse looking unhappy and refused to talk to the media.

Eve's cases against the pair will unfold in various courts. On May 18 the Criminal Court in Ratchada will examine a defamation case stemming from Kan's song, which Eve says defames her. Then, on June 11 and 12, the court will hear a case over remarks in which Kan referred to Eve as a lazy python, living off Sek's riches. Kan, who has previously shrugged off her mounting legal troubles, has yet to comment.

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Feng shui conman thrives, newbie robber wets self, Eve in court - Bangkok Post