Boy, 14, Jailed For Chilli Prank

[george]

Boy, 14, jailed for chilli prank

Charged with causing damage after shop row

BANGKOK: -- A 14-year-old boy has been thrown into a juvenile observation centre for allegedly playing with ground chilli in a noodle shop.

Rungsawat Manmanee has been charged with causing loss of goods after the noodle shop owner filed a complaint with police.

The boy and his 20-year-old sister Neerama yesterday brought the case to the attention of reporters.

The incident took place on the night of April 19 when Rungsawat, Ms Neerama and four others were eating at Wassana Poolros' noodle shop.

As Ms Neerama was settling the bill, Rungsawat put a teaspoon of ground chilli into a noodle bowl and asked his sister to eat it.

The shop owner got upset and demanded they pay an additional 10 baht for the wasted chilli, and began calling them names.

Ms Neerama said a heated row followed and Mrs Wassana filed a complaint with police, who put her brother in a cell at the police station that night and sent him to the juvenile observation and protection centre the next morning.

Ms Neerama has asked Daruna Ratchaburi School, where her brother studies, to issue a letter of accreditation so she may bail him out.

Pol Capt Manusak Wongsa, the police investigator who accepted the complaint, said he was simply doing his job as the owner refused to let the matter go.

School teacher Surapol Aramsirirujivej said Rungsawat was a good student and a swimmer on the school team.

He said he believed the boy simply was teasing his sister and had no intention of causing damage to the noodle shop owner.

--Bangkok Post 2005-04-24

[peder.klockmann]

Boy, 14, jailed for chilli prank

Charged with causing damage after shop row

BANGKOK: -- A 14-year-old boy has been thrown into a juvenile observation centre for allegedly playing with ground chilli in a noodle shop.

Rungsawat Manmanee has been charged with causing loss of goods after the noodle shop owner filed a complaint with police.

The boy and his 20-year-old sister Neerama yesterday brought the case to the attention of reporters.

The incident took place on the night of April 19 when Rungsawat, Ms Neerama and four others were eating at Wassana Poolros' noodle shop.

As Ms Neerama was settling the bill, Rungsawat put a teaspoon of ground chilli into a noodle bowl and asked his sister to eat it.

The shop owner got upset and demanded they pay an additional 10 baht for the wasted chilli, and began calling them names.

Ms Neerama said a heated row followed and Mrs Wassana filed a complaint with police, who put her brother in a cell at the police station that night and sent him to the juvenile observation and protection centre the next morning.

Ms Neerama has asked Daruna Ratchaburi School, where her brother studies, to issue a letter of accreditation so she may bail him out.

Pol Capt Manusak Wongsa, the police investigator who accepted the complaint, said he was simply doing his job as the owner refused to let the matter go.

School teacher Surapol Aramsirirujivej said Rungsawat was a good student and a swimmer on the school team.

He said he believed the boy simply was teasing his sister and had no intention of causing damage to the noodle shop owner.

--Bangkok Post 2005-04-24

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

&lt;deleted&gt;??? A 14 year old kid in jail for putting a spoonfull of chilli in a bowl of soup?

"Pol Capt Manusak Wongsa, the police investigator who accepted the complaint, said he was simply doing his job as the owner refused to let the matter go."

Erm ok, kid your going to jail your guilty of...?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Bloody stupid copper.

[lampard10]

Bloody stupid copper.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Silly boy...........didn't he know that if he murdered a passing Farang everything would have worked out ok. The police would have put up the bail money.

[Phil Conners]

Absurd. TiT again.

[Thetyim]

Bloody stupid copper.

And bloody stupid shop owner.

Ohhh, maybe they are related.

[stumonster]

The shop owner got upset and demanded they pay an additional 10 baht for the wasted chilli, and began calling them names.

and why they did not pay the additional 10 baht?

this is not a HiSo issue is it?

[astral]

And they wonder why Thailand is not regarded as a First Class nation??

[meemiathai]

The shop owner and the cop did the right thing!!

[chuchok]

The shop owner and the cop did the right thing!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exsqueeze me?

Edited April 24, 2005 by chuchok

[meemiathai]

And they wonder why Thailand is not regarded as a First Class nation??

Oh yes, first class nation should mean like using handcuffs to arrest a 5-year old girl by 3 police officers. Like they did in the USA.

[chuchok]

The shop owner and the cop did the right thing!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why on earth would 1 x teaspoon of ground chilli (Cost about 50 satang at the most!) be grounds for putting somebody in jail..let alone a kid?

Maybe they should have given the kid the death penalty.Sounds much more fair.

[Ajarn]

I can certainly understand the shop owner's feelings. And I fully believe that kids need limits, and that those limits could include jail... But the real issue of the 'crime' changed from one issue, to another issue, it seems.

According to the seller, the kid was rude and refused to apologize, so the seller and the kid got into a power struggle, which the seller 'won'.

The cop could have refused to jail the kid. but he didn't.

The seller could have 'mai pen rai'd', but she didn't

The kid could have apologized, but he didn't.

Badly played by all concerned, but this sort of thing could, and likely does, happen anywhere else in this world. No reason to make rude remarks about Thailand....

[chuchok]

I can certainly understand the shop owner's feelings. And I fully believe that kids need limits, and that those limits could include jail... But the real issue of the 'crime' changed from one issue, to another issue, it seems.

According to the seller, the kid was rude and refused to apologize, so the seller and the kid got into a power struggle, which the seller 'won'.

The cop could have refused to jail the kid. but he didn't.

The seller could have 'mai pen rai'd', but she didn't

The kid could have apologized, but he didn't.

Badly played by all concerned, but this sort of thing could, and likely does, happen anywhere else in this world. No reason to make rude remarks about Thailand....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can see where you are comming from Ajarn,but 10 baht for wasted food?Did the girl actually eat the soup? The wife sometimes uses more.

If I had the opportunity as a youngster to do the same to my sister, I would have used 2 spoonfulls of chilli.

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

He's a brat- a night in the cells may stop him becoming a worse brat.

Otherwise in 3 years time he'll either be one of those thugs in Soi Cowboy, beating his countrymen to death at Songkran, or working in a go go bar to pay for his yaba.

[Ajarn]

I can certainly understand the shop owner's feelings. And I fully believe that kids need limits, and that those limits could include jail... But the real issue of the 'crime' changed from one issue, to another issue, it seems.

According to the seller, the kid was rude and refused to apologize, so the seller and the kid got into a power struggle, which the seller 'won'.

The cop could have refused to jail the kid. but he didn't.

The seller could have 'mai pen rai'd', but she didn't

The kid could have apologized, but he didn't.

Badly played by all concerned, but this sort of thing could, and likely does, happen anywhere else in this world. No reason to make rude remarks about Thailand....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can see where you are comming from Ajarn,but 10 baht for wasted food?Did the girl actually eat the soup? The wife sometimes uses more.

If I had the opportunity as a youngster to do the same to my sister, I would have used 2 spoonfulls of chilli.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chuck, I certainly didn't mean to imply that I supported any of the actions, by any of the players. Just an observation...

I've unscrewed the tops of plenty of salt/pepper shakers in my time. Not always as a youngster, either

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I can certainly understand the shop owner's feelings. And I fully believe that kids need limits, and that those limits could include jail... But the real issue of the 'crime' changed from one issue, to another issue, it seems.

According to the seller, the kid was rude and refused to apologize, so the seller and the kid got into a power struggle, which the seller 'won'.

The cop could have refused to jail the kid. but he didn't.

The seller could have 'mai pen rai'd', but she didn't

The kid could have apologized, but he didn't.

Badly played by all concerned, but this sort of thing could, and likely does, happen anywhere else in this world. No reason to make rude remarks about Thailand....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can see where you are comming from Ajarn,but 10 baht for wasted food?Did the girl actually eat the soup? The wife sometimes uses more.

If I had the opportunity as a youngster to do the same to my sister, I would have used 2 spoonfulls of chilli.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chuck, I certainly didn't mean to imply that I supported any of the actions, by any of the players. Just an observation...

I've unscrewed the tops of plenty of salt/pepper shakers in my time. Not always as a youngster, either

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Who's a naughty boy then ? ( Me too )

[Ajarn]

Yep. Life is waaay to short to be a good boy all the time

[RDN]

The shop owner got upset and demanded they pay an additional 10 baht for the wasted chilli, and began calling them names.

and why they did not pay the additional 10 baht?

this is not a HiSo issue is it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, just FACE again. TIT.

[gburns57au]

I think the seller was way over the top.....I have never been charged for using the condiments that are on the table at most food shops....maybe there was a bit more history here between the seller and the boy or his family.

[Ajarn]

Here are a few different media "facts"... direct relevance is bolded

Police lock up boy over noodle-shop chilli prank

Published on April 24, 2005

Ratchaburi police have arrested a 14-year-old boy for playing with condiments at a restaurant, causing his older sister to make a public call for justice.

The schoolboy was taken into custody yesterday for allegedly stealing and being a nuisance in public by playing with ground chilli at a noodle shop, whose owner called the police.

Neeracha Manmanee, the boy’s 20-year-old sister, told reporters that she, her brother, and six friends were dining at Jaekhak noodle shop when an altercation with the shop’s owner led to her brother’s arrest.

Neeracha explained that she was paying the bill for the meals when her brother playfully tipped a spoonful of ground chilli into her bowl, a prank that angered the shop’s owner, Watsana Pulrot, 52. The irate owner ordered Neeracha to finish up her noodle dish, now seasoned with extra chilli, which she refused to do.

Watsana regarded the tipping of the chilli into the bowl as tantamount to stealing.

The two women embarked on a heated argument, during which Neeracha said she tried to placate Watsana by topping up the bill with an extra Bt10 for the wasted chilli pepper. Rather than accept the money, Watsana called police, Neeracha said.

The boy spent last night in police detention and will be sent to a juvenile detention centre, said Captain Manusak Wongsa, the police officer pressing misdemeanour charges against the boy.

Manusak said the law allowed him no option but to arrest the boy, explaining that he had asked Watsana to withdraw her complaint with police, but that she was so angered by the boy’s conduct that she refused.

Watsana explained that until the incident she had never in her 20 years as a noodle vendor had an argument with customers. She said that the boy was extremely impolite and arrogant, but that initially all she had wanted was an apology, which he refused to give. She then called the police.

Watsana added that she was insisting on pressing charges against the boy because she wanted to teach him a lesson to respect his elders and not to waste other people’s property. She said she hoped her action would prevent him from becoming a thief later on in life.

Policeman Manusak added that the boy would be transferred from police custody to a juvenile centre until his appearance in court.

One of the boy’s schoolteachers said that he would ask the juvenile centre’s manager to set him free because the 14-year-old was a well-behaved, exemplary student.

The Nation

I have no idea if it's another example of crappy TNA reporting, or if The Nation got it wrong. Just Another Reality check for those who tend to quote the Media reports like the bible. I'll include myself in that group, at times, too.

That seems to make this thread more of an Academic Discourse due to the absence of known facts, but some will possibly still take it as fodder for their 'issues' with Thailand...

On the Thai TV news, they will rarely show a direct comment from someone, preferring to show them talking while the news reader tells us what they said. Most annoying when you know that even basic facts are often mis-reported in the Media...

They used to like letting Chavalit speak for himself, though. I'm pretty sure it was often not due to the inherrent comical aspect to his words, but because nobody could paraphrase what they couldn't understand.

[rstrauss]

Oh yes, first class nation should mean like using handcuffs to arrest a 5-year old girl by 3 police officers.  Like they did in the USA.

Your problem is that you think, the USA is a first world country. NOT!! First world is Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland

[meemiathai]

Oh yes, first class nation should mean like using handcuffs to arrest a 5-year old girl by 3 police officers.  Like they did in the USA.

Your problem is that you think, the USA is a first world country. NOT!! First world is Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland

I don't give a shit to being 'first class' or not. As long as people are happy, it's a good country.

The point here is why people have to find every opportunity to bash/belittle Thailand.

And also in this case, the boy obviously did not have any respect for food and looked like a spoilt brat to me. I fully support the act of the shop owner!

[meemiathai]

The shop owner and the cop did the right thing!!

Why on earth would 1 x teaspoon of ground chilli (Cost about 50 satang at the most!) be grounds for putting somebody in jail..let alone a kid?

Maybe they should have given the kid the death penalty.Sounds much more fair.

Ask this to the starving people in Africa. I guess death penalty could be the answer.

[peder.klockmann]

Ask this to the starving people in Africa.  I guess death penalty could be the answer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not sure the starving people in Africa or any where, care too much about ground chilli, let alone any condiment.

[chuchok]

The shop owner and the cop did the right thing!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why on earth would 1 x teaspoon of ground chilli (Cost about 50 satang at the most!) be grounds for putting somebody in jail..let alone a kid?

Maybe they should have given the kid the death penalty.Sounds much more fair.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ask this to the starving people in Africa. I guess death penalty could be the answer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, a spoonfull of chilli would go a long way in Africa...

[Tornado]

I think the little punk should of been beaten as well.

[siamesekitty]

Neeracha explained that she was paying the bill for the meals when her brother playfully tipped a spoonful of ground chilli into her bowl, a prank that angered the shop’s owner, Watsana Pulrot, 52. The irate owner ordered Neeracha to finish up her noodle dish, now seasoned with extra chilli, which she refused to do.

.

.

The two women embarked on a heated argument, during which Neeracha said she tried to placate Watsana by topping up the bill with an extra Bt10 for the wasted chilli pepper. Rather than accept the money, Watsana called police, Neeracha said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This intriguing incident made me late for work this morning

I was watching เรื่องเล่าเช้านี้ ("Ruang lao chao nee", with Khun Sorayut) and heard both parties' account of the incident.

The kid said he had only put in a spoonful of chilli into the bowl, which his sister continued eating from (but only the noodles, none of the soup). He said his sister had handed over (not thrown) the 10 baht, but as they were leaving he had muttered something equivilant to "&lt;deleted&gt;' b*tch", at which the lady went ballistic, grabbing him by the hair and shouting abuse before calling the police.

The noodle lady said the kid had used only one spoon, yes, but used the spoon to scoop about half a glassful of chilli into the bowl, along with sugar and other condiments, which of course, meant it was unedible. She welcomed Khun Sorayut to take a look for himself, as she had kept the soup for evidence. From her side of the story, the sister had thrown the 10 baht onto the table as if she was a beggar, which she then refused to accept. The kid's sister, who was known to be a real troublemaker, was shouting abuse at her, using "กู มึง" (impolite Thai pronouns).

Hmm.. major discrepancies in the accounts (I do think the part about shouting abuse should be true for both parties though )

[NedKelly]

Well maybe the kid was a brat and the shopowner was in a bad mood.......maybe she should have just rubbed his mouth in the chilli and kicked him in the butt........it may be all over then. But TIT so maybe the kid and friends would have burned down her shop.......You can see the predicament for all concerned by foolishness.

[meemiathai]

The shop owner and the cop did the right thing!!

Why on earth would 1 x teaspoon of ground chilli (Cost about 50 satang at the most!) be grounds for putting somebody in jail..let alone a kid?

Maybe they should have given the kid the death penalty.Sounds much more fair.

Ask this to the starving people in Africa. I guess death penalty could be the answer.

Yep, a spoonfull of chilli would go a long way in Africa...

It is about the attitude towards food, FGS!

And it really is not important what the true story was. We are all outsiders here and we are only commenting on what we think was true. No one really knows who was right or wrong unless we were there. What really made me respond to this thread was someone actually trying to link this trivial incident to whether Thailand could become first class nation.