PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN -- A jobless man arrested for starting fire in the back of a police pickup truck said he did it so he would be put in jail and no longer have to endure the daily struggle to survive.
Jaran Naebsanit, 44, was detained by Hua Hin patrol police about 1.30am on Wednesday while walking in a soi alongside Hua Hin Shopping Mall.
They had been looking for him since shortly after a man attempted to set fire to a pickup used by traffic police that was parked on a road by the tourist service centre behind the Hua Hin police station about 10.45pm on Tuesday.
The fire was noticed by rescuers and car theft suppression police who were nearby and quickly extinguished before it caused much damage to the vehicle.
Security camera footage showed a man aged 30-40, 160-170 centimetres tall, wearing a black T-shirt and grey jeans walking to the rear of the police vehicle with a piece of white cloth in one hand. He placed the cloth, believed to have been soaked with petrol, under a spare tyre in the tray of the truck and set fire to it.
The man then walked crossed the road to the Government Savings Bank, paused to look at the burning vehicle and walked away.
The man was known to police and was spotted about 1.30am walking beside the Hua Hin Shopping Mall and arrested.
Police said Mr Jaran was jobless and had come to Hua Hin looking for work. About a month ago he was briefly detained in a cell at Hua Hin police station for being drunk and causing a public nuisance. He later returned to the police station several times, asking for food.
According to police, after his arrest Mr Jaran said he had been terribly depressed since attending a funeral at Wat Hua Hin on Tuesday. He felt it would be better in prison than having to continue the daily struggle for survival. So he set fire to the police vehicle.
Below, the slightly damaged police vehicle. (Photo by Chaiwat Satyaem)
