PATTAYA, THAILAND – A copper cable theft left a rural connector road near Khao Mai Kaew in complete darkness overnight, prompting a police investigation and safety concerns among residents.
Key rural road left without lights
The section from Ban Nong Yang to the Mab Kha Wan intersection in Moo 3, Tambon Khao Mai Kaew, remained without functioning street lighting after an unknown person forced open the control cabinet of the municipal system. The entire connector road was dark throughout the night.
Municipal staff discovered the damage
The incident was discovered on Thursday morning, when Weeraphan Kha Charoen, an employee of the Khao Mai Kaew municipal administration, inspected the roadside control cabinet during his regular patrol. He noticed that the box stood unusually open and was hanging askew, and a closer check with colleagues revealed that copper cables inside and outside the box, including lines to the main transformer, had been deliberately cut and removed.
“The complete row of streetlights from Ban Nong Yang in Moo 3 to the Mab Kha Wan intersection was completely dark,”
said Weeraphan Kha Charoen, municipal employee.
“This is a route that villagers use every day. At night it is pitch dark and deserted there, so people are now seriously worried about their safety.”
said Weeraphan Kha Charoen, municipal employee.
Resident witnessed sudden blackout
A local resident, Mr. James, who lives close to the damaged control box, reported that he had witnessed the moment of the outage. He said he had been sitting in front of his house with a friend at around 10:30 p.m. when the lighting along the entire road went out within seconds.
“One moment everything was normally lit, the next it was absolute darkness,”
said Mr. James, local resident.
“It must have happened exactly at that moment.”
said Mr. James, local resident.
Police review CCTV to track suspect
Shortly after the incident became known, officers from the Khao Mai Kaew police post and investigators from Huay Yai Police Station arrived at the scene, accompanied by Bancha Udong, former deputy chairman of the Khao Mai Kaew Subdistrict Administrative Organization. Together they inspected the site and discussed possible protective measures and strategies to catch the perpetrator, while investigators were already reviewing footage from municipal CCTV cameras.
According to police, there was now “certain useful information” that could help identify the suspect, but they did not disclose details, citing the ongoing investigation. Authorities said they were collecting evidence and expected to identify and prosecute the perpetrator in the near future.
Rising concern over cable theft in rural areas
The theft of copper cables from public infrastructure has increasingly become a problem in rural regions, driven by high scrap prices that make the metal attractive to criminals. The consequences for affected communities are significant, including dangerous darkness on sparsely used rural roads, higher risks of accidents and crime at night, and long outages of lighting until repairs are carried out.
In Khao Mai Kaew, the affected stretch of road remained without light for the time being, while investigators worked to solve the theft and prevent further incidents.