Songkhla: Arrested, the arsonist of Sirichoke’s car. Police pressed him for questioning and he admitted to committing the crime. Relatives revealed that he was mentally unstable and had been talking to himself for months. Sirichoke did not believe that he had done it himself due to mental illness. There must have been someone who had ordered it behind the scenes.

According to Thai News Agency, CCTV footage captured Mr. Beer, 29, riding a motorcycle into the alley of the house of Mr. Sirichoke Sopha, a former Democrat Party MP for Constituency 7, Songkhla for four terms, at 3 a.m. last night in Tambon Chang, Amphoe Nathawi, Songkhla Province. He was seen talking to the caretaker of Mr. Sirichoke’s house at the front door before riding away.

Then at 03.45, Mr. Beer rode his motorcycle back into the alley of Mr. Sirichoke’s house again before there was news that the GWM HAVAL H6 PHEV or plug-in hybrid car, semi-electric, semi-petrol, caught fire and was completely destroyed. At that time, it was still uncertain whether it was due to a malfunction in the car’s system or some other cause until the authorities were certain that Mr. Beer was the one who set fire to Mr. Sirichoke’s car.

The Nathawi Police Station followed the trail of this suspect until it led to the arrest of Mr. Beer in front of a house, which is from the same village as Mr. Sirichoke’s house. Initially, his statement was incoherent, but in the end, he confessed that he was the one who burned Mr. Sirichoke’s car. However, the details of the act are still under investigation. Initial urine tests did not find any drugs in his system.

In the past 3-4 months, Mr. Beer has been acting strangely, staying at home all the time, and talking to himself. Sometimes he talks while laughing and makes a woman’s voice. His relatives suspect that this is a side effect of his motorcycle accident where he hit his head on a drain cover in the Nathawi Market, so they took him to Songkhla Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital for treatment.

In this regard, the police believe that from Mr. Beer’s condition, it is believed that there is no other motive than setting fire due to mental problems, but further investigation is still needed.

Mr. Sirichoke, the victim, does not believe that the perpetrator did it himself because he is mentally unstable. There must be someone ordering behind the scenes because he has information that he is the son of a former local politician in the Nathawi district and this former politician is also related to his political rival MP. Therefore, he does not want the police to rush to conclude and investigate more deeply.