http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/08Nov2005_news17.php

HIGHWAY CRIME / GANG TARGETS 18-WHEELER

Axles heisted while truckie sleeps

Driver Sakda Klaisin, 33, shows bolts loosened off the wheels of his truck by thieves who stole the vehicle's axles. — PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

MANOP THIP-OSOD

Truck driver Sakda Klaisin was feeling sleepy and thought a brief nap off the highway would help him avoid an accident _ but awoke an hour later to find some of the axles had been stolen from his 18-wheeler. Mr Sakda, 33, pulled over early yesterday on the Phahon Yothin-Lam Luk Ka road in Pathum Thani for a rest. He was on his way from Suphan Buri province to Chon Buri province in the East.

Mr Sakda had no idea his one-hour nap would be so costly.

``I was very tired, so I found a place to stop and then fell into a deep sleep,'' he said. ``The noise from passing cars must have drowned out the noise of what was happening underneath the truck.''

Mr Sakda was finally alerted to what had happened by the sound of falling bolts near his truck.

He investigated and to his surprise, discovered that axles connecting several pairs of wheels had been removed while he slept.

A spokesman for Mr Sakda's employer, Thong Srikarn Co, said local villagers said many similar thefts had occurred in the area. A gang of thieves were stealing motor vehicle parts while drivers slept or left their vehicles unattended.

Managing director Chanonkarn Santipattanakit said she was amazed and disappointed the theft occurred only 300 metres from a traffic police booth.

The loss would be an additional burden on the company, already hard put coping with rising fuel prices.

A police officer in Lam Luk Ka district said the booth was only a rest stop for police patrols and was usually unmanned. Police believed the stolen axles would eventually be offered to a truck garage.

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I’m getting old but anybody else have a hard time believing this story if the reporter got this mans quotes right. I mean you sleep thru them taking out the axles but then you wake up to the sound of falling bolts? You then investigate... either the axles is still near the truck and the gang has run away or you see them chugging down the highway with the axle. Falling bolts would be before the axle was taken out, correct?

Long gone are the days of just nicking hubcabs.

I cant believe he didnt hear anything, sounds like some sort of inside job to me.

Obviously not one of the 18 wheelers belonging to the business interests of a certain disliked member of a certain family.

but maby he needed some wheels