Stranded 650 kilometers from home, anti-government protester Somkiat Paisri pondered his fate from atop a three-meter post over a canal bridge not far from Democracy Monument yesterday.
Witnesses said the 37-year-old Surat Thani man, who was found on top of the post with his whistle still around his neck, appeared to be hallucinating. He said he missed his home but didn’t have any money to get home.
After trying to talk him down for nearly an hour, Nang Lerng authorities sent a police officer up the post to let him use a phone to call his mother. Somkiat didn’t listen and threatened to jump into the khlong below. That’s when the cop decided to settle the matter by shoving Somkiat off the pole to fall into the khlong below.
After being rescued by a rubber boat, authorities said they found a bag of Kratom leaves in the unhinged man’s possession.
According to witnesses, Somkiat traveled from Surat Thani with friends to join the anti-government protests. Later he lost track of his friends and could not contact them. Stressed out that he did not have a ride home and perhaps with a headful of leaf, Somkiat then decided to make his fateful ascent, Matichon reported.
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