Mysterious fires in Phatthalung now divulged

[webfact]

Mysterious fires in Phatthalung now divulged



BANGKOK: -- A string of mysterious fires at a home in Tamot district of Phatthalung is now exposed by a television channel's news team which hid several surveillance cameras in the house and found the fire was a work of a female relative of the house owner.

Digital Channel 8 today released a brief video footage of a surveillance camera concealed inside a room showing a woman was acting suspiciously near the room corner as if she was lighting something.

The video footage was posted on YouTube.

The footage showed the woman later walked out and returned seconds later into the room with a small girl directing her to point to where she just left saying fire, fire.

The video footage showed many people outside came in to put out the fire.

Channel 8 said its news team was in the village to find out the mystery, but could not find anything unusual while over 10 fires were reported happening while the team was in the house to investigate.

It decided to stay overnight in the home and hide several cameras to catch the unusual fires.

The truth was later exposed when one camera caught the woman lighting the fire and called the small girl inside the room to point to the fire scene.

Channel 8 said now rested with the police to probe and to look into what legal action they will take on the woman who was not identified yet.

Since last month, 150 fires have been reported in the home.

According to Thaivisa News, last week, the governor of Phatthalung Mr Winai Buapradit, Phatthalung governor also went to the home to investigate the cause of the fire.

During the investigation, a wardrobe caught fire in one of the bedrooms. The family quickly put out the fire before it could do any major damage.

The home owner Mr Lom Sakwan, 63, said he and his family had been living in the home for about eight years.

He recalled that the first fire broke out on March 17 and destroyed a makeshift shelter outside of the home.

Since that day, 150 fires have broken out in the home. Naturally, the family is frightened and spooked.

Several government agencies came to inspect but no formal inspection was carried.

Some said the fires were caused by spirits and advised the home owner to perform supernatural rite to drive away spirits in the home.

But some said the fire might be caused by chemical reactions.

However no scientific test has ever been conducted to find out the exact cause until the news team decided to probe the mystery seriously.

(Photo : Channel 8)

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/mysterious-fires-in-phatthalung-now-divulged


-- Thai PBS 2015-04-29

[toybits]

Seems they have a pyromaniac in the house...

[Somtamnication]

That sucks big time. The owners cannot have a bbq there now!

[Strangebrew]

Good thing they caught her before some one died in fire. some needs to go to PM camp for a few weeks

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed, this is not in the UK.

[Fat Haggis]

An off topic post has been removed, this is not in the UK.

I was highlighting that arson is considered a serious offence, and should be treated similarly in Thailand.

[zaphod reborn]

An off topic post has been removed, this is not in the UK.

I was highlighting that arson is considered a serious offence, and should be treated similarly in Thailand.

I think the owners of Central World would beg to differ. Arson is not a serious offense in Thailand, as there was absolutely no criminal investigation of the red shirts torching it in 2010.

[Fat Haggis]

An off topic post has been removed, this is not in the UK.

I was highlighting that arson is considered a serious offence, and should be treated similarly in Thailand.

I think the owners of Central World would beg to differ. Arson is not a serious offense in Thailand, as there was absolutely no criminal investigation of the red shirts torching it in 2010.

Are you sure about that? I seem to recall that two redshirt were recently acquitted of something to do with Central World and the attempt to burn it down? It was a headline here on TVF a while back.

Pretty sure they were in detention for it too, but the evidence against them was overturned, but I do agre with you on that comparing other countries laws of the land to Thailands inconsistency with crimes is a wasted exercise.

15 years for less than a gramme of coke, but seizing an airport or killing a policeman with your high performance car, is not pursued, pick a few mushrooms and it's off to the clink for the rest of your life.

The Judiciary is long overdue a reform too!!

[daoyai]

Good thing none of the furniture caught fire.... oh wait.

[webfact]

Hidden Camera Exposes Source of Mysterious House Fires in Southern Thailand
By Khaosod English


A photo of one of the more than 200 fires at a house in Phatthalung province, 23 April 2015 [Channel 8].

PHATTHALUNG — Footage from a hidden camera has determined that humans, not supernatural entities, are responsible for more than 200 fires lit inside a house in southern Thailand over the past few weeks.

Lom Sakwan, 63, told the media in mid-April that inexplicable fires kept erupting in his house in Phatthalung province. According to Lom, the flames would abruptly crop up in his kitchen, bedroom, and living room when no one was watching, causing significant distress to his family.

Lom said he counted more than 200 incidents over the course of several weeks.

His story attracted attention from local communities, national media, and followers of superstitious beliefs. Yesterday, a group of "hermits" arrived at Lom's house and informed him that a child ghost has been haunting his family and setting the fires. Lom organized a ceremony to dispel evil spirits on 26 April, in which at least five monks known for their necromancy skills were invited, yet five more blazes were reported later that day.

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1430289314


-- Khaosod English 2015-04-29

[zaphod reborn]

An off topic post has been removed, this is not in the UK.

I was highlighting that arson is considered a serious offence, and should be treated similarly in Thailand.

I think the owners of Central World would beg to differ. Arson is not a serious offense in Thailand, as there was absolutely no criminal investigation of the red shirts torching it in 2010.

Are you sure about that? I seem to recall that two redshirt were recently acquitted of something to do with Central World and the attempt to burn it down? It was a headline here on TVF a while back.

Pretty sure they were in detention for it too, but the evidence against them was overturned, but I do agre with you on that comparing other countries laws of the land to Thailands inconsistency with crimes is a wasted exercise.

15 years for less than a gramme of coke, but seizing an airport or killing a policeman with your high performance car, is not pursued, pick a few mushrooms and it's off to the clink for the rest of your life.

The Judiciary is long overdue a reform too!!

I will stand by my statement that there was absolutely no criminal investigation. 4 red shirt defendants were acquitted because the prosecution never submitted any evidence against them. https://soclaimon.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/court-lets-off-2-red-shirts-on-arson-charges/

Edited April 29, 2015 by zaphod reborn

[Fat Haggis]

Wouldn't there have to have been some sort of investigation to arrest that 4 in the first place, or were they just random protestors picked off the street?

If no investigation was done, then these guys were found guilty for what? were they not actually in detention?

Don't get me wrong the onus are on prosecutions to get a guilty verdict. But nothing surprises me with Thai justice these days, past and present.

Having just read some old posts from other sources I have to disagree with you that prosecutors didn't submit any evidence, they did but it was thrown out for being too weak , the defendants has been in jail for 3 years, so some sort of investigation would have been done to get them a custodial sentence.

However we are digressing from the OP ?

Edited April 29, 2015 by Fat Haggis

[katana]

https://youtu.be/GZXz5_zHpWU?t=6m21s

A Thai version of the Enfield poltergesit...

[how241]

Good thing they caught her before some one died in fire. some needs to go to PM camp for a few weeks

+1...good thy stopped her.

[Bluespunk]

"Yesterday, a group of "hermits" arrived at Lom's house and informed him that a child ghost has been haunting his family and setting the fires. Lom organized a ceremony to dispel evil spirits on 26 April, in which at least five monks known for their necromancy skills were invited, yet five more blazes were reported later that day.'

Later channel 8 later exposed how non existent these skills were.

[Pimay1]

I suspect the hermits had a meeting with the five good monks first where it was decided how much Khun Lom would have to pay for their services and how the loot would be split up. Hopefully the subsequent five fires exposed these charlatans but I doubt it.

[lemonjelly]

I saw a news clip of the "hermits".. Dressed in nylon tiger skin, beads etc..... Hilarious or sad.... Still not sure

[Matthew2027]

What's the house number, I will have to go and buy some lottery tickets.. Oh, her age is 63, so there's one winning ticket!

Edited April 29, 2015 by Matthew2027

[lemonjelly]

[Oziex1]

Do I see a fire extinguisher in the background of the photo?

[Tywais]

Do I see a fire extinguisher in the background of the photo?

I see two back there. If I had 150+ fires in a month I would have one in every room, plus smoke alarms, plus fire sprinkler system.

[realenglish1]

Spirits are lighting the fires OMG give me a break Educated firefighters and police really believe this stuff

GMAB

[mgjackson69]

... Educated firefighters and police really believe this stuff

GMAB

Assuming facts not in evidence ("educated")

[sean in udon]

"Yesterday, a group of "hermits" arrived at Lom's house and informed him that a child ghost has been haunting his family and setting the fires. Lom organized a ceremony to dispel evil spirits on 26 April, in which at least five monks known for their necromancy skills were invited, yet five more blazes were reported later that day.'

Later channel 8 later exposed how non existent these skills were.

Are you kidding? They missed out on a bit of great repeat business.

The spirit entered the female's body to escape from their necromancy skills. They then get to charge another fee to exorcise the female arsonist and 'save' her from the evil spirit within.

Make the exorcism particularly unpleasant so she'll have incentive to avoid reoffending.

Seriously though, 'evil spirits' and 'chemical reactions'. What a crock of shit.

As others have already commented, very lucky that things didn't get out of hand. Could easily have caused injury or death.

[soalbundy]

and there was me thinking it was due to an angry ghost, i've been here too long

[cracker1]

Channel 8 said its news team was in the village to find out the mystery, but could not find anything unusual while over 10 fires were reported happening while the team was in the house to investigate.

It decided to stay overnight in the home and hide several cameras to catch the unusual fires.

Why did not the Royal Thai Police take similar action after more than 100 suspicious fires ?

[phoenixdoglover]

The owner of the house must be a moron.

My mom always told me, "If you dont have anything good to say, dont say anything"

There is an exception to every rule.

[LannaGuy]

so the 'Naga started them' theory is bust?

[catweazle]

What's wrong with those people?

[Beetlejuice]

Who ya gonna call? Ghost busters.