NEWS BITES
YOUTUBER ARRESTED FOR SELLING WEED
INTERNET: Police have arrested a man who allegedly promoted the sale of marijuana through YouTube.
Police received reports that a YouTube channel, “SamunphirSSPP.Law 168”, was carrying content related to the sale of cannabis.
Bung Kan province commander Thiwa Boondamnoen yesterday said he instructed his subordinates to track down the suspect who was found in a rented room in tambon Pak Khat of Pak Khat district.
Rangsan Wisetlinthong, the 31-year-old Nakhon Ratchasima resident, is believed to have run the YouTube channel.
Police found three kilogrammes of cannabis resin, three bottles of ground marijuana and four bags of seeds, Pol Maj Gen Thiwa said.
They were packed and believed to be ready for delivery.
According to officers, Mr Rangsan said he sent cannabis through postal services. He claimed he believed he was now legally able to possess and sell marijuana, officers said.
5 MILLION ‘YA BA’ PILLS SEIZED IN PHRAE
CRIME: Police in Phrae province yesterday arrested two drug traders trying to smuggle five million pills of amphetamine — the largest drug seizure the province has seen.
The duo were Somphong Trakkatanachoo and Surachai Songdisaichoke, both 24, according to Pol Maj Gen Thanaratch Choomsawat, commissioner of Phrae Phrae Provincial Sub-Division.
The five million amphetamine, or ya ba pills were stashed in black packages hidden in the passenger seats and the back of pickup truck.
Acting on a tip-off, police made the arrests yesterday morning near an irrigation canal in Loo Moo 6, tambon Huay Mai, of Song district.
Mr Somphong confessed to police that he took the drugs from an agent in Chiang Rai province and was preparing to deliver the consignment to peddlers in Bangkok, officers said. He revealed another drug smuggler named Lee Sae Soeng was also driving a pickup truck, but managed to escape.
PHEU THAI APPEALS TO VOTERS’ WALLETS
UBON RATCHATHANI: The Pheu Thai Party saw a high turnout of membership applicants yesterday in this northeastern province, where a party leader urged people to vote for Pheu Thai if they feel poorer now than they used to.
A crowd of people from Yasothon, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani thronged the Pheu Thai office in Ubon Ratchathani as the party opened applications for people in the three lower northeastern provinces.
Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Vechayachai told the applicants that the party was ready for the coming election and it wanted to solve the problems facing local people.
He said the party would use the experience gained during its previous term in government, before the 2014 coup, to help people live a good life.
“In the upcoming election, people are free to choose any party. If you think you are richer now, just choose other parties. But if you think you are getting poorer now with no money left in your pockets, please vote for Pheu Thai to solve this problem,” he told the crowd.