SAMUT PRAKAN, Thailand – A 37-year-old Myanmar caretaker offered an explanation to police that astonished even seasoned officers: he didn’t set his own corrugated iron hut ablaze, but rather the vengeful spirit of his deceased brother did. Investigators proceeded with his arrest nonetheless.
Flames engulf secluded property
Shortly after midnight, emergency calls flooded the Phra Samut Chedi police station. Three fire engines raced to the private property, spanning over 20 rai in the Phra Samut Chedi district, but firefighters were met with a locked gate upon arrival. It wasn’t until the property owner was located and the lock removed that firefighters could approach the source of the blaze. Within ten minutes, they extinguished the flames, but it was too late for the corrugated iron dwelling.
When the dwelling turned to ash
The fire consumed the makeshift shelter, which was constructed around a two-by-four-meter container frame. All four sides were clad with flat corrugated iron sheets, and the door at the end was securely locked. Not a single personal item belonging to the resident remained untouched by the flames. Clothing, possessions, furniture – everything that Yi Win Miu had accumulated during his seven to eight months as the sole caretaker here fell victim to the inferno.
The accused and his invisible arsonist
Police apprehended Yi Win Miu at the scene. During questioning, the 37-year-old initially spoke incoherently in Thai, according to authorities, but a drug test came back negative. When asked about the fire, he offered a grim account: on this particular date, spirits from the underworld emerge to visit their families. Yi Win Miu claimed to have prepared laundry and offerings for burning, but then the spirit of his deceased elder brother intervened, ignited the pile himself, and vanished as the flames spread.
No arson charge – yet
Yi Win Miu was immediately taken into custody for entering the country without valid documents. Officers charged him under immigration laws and transferred the case to the relevant investigators. Whether a separate arson charge will follow depends on a formal complaint from the property owner. Until that is received, the Myanmar national is officially not considered an arsonist, but merely an illegal immigrant with a peculiar ghost story.
When a hammer became a weapon
It wasn’t only in Samut Prakan that an alleged ghost played a central role in a criminal case. In the same month, police in Khon Kaen arrested a 59-year-old man who allegedly attacked a friend with a hammer after hours of alcohol consumption. Approximately twenty blows struck the victim, who later died in the hospital. The motive for the brutal assault: the accused claimed his friend was a “Phi Pop,” a cannibalistic ghost from Thai folklore. The charge is assault causing death.
Police remain sober – proceedings underway
From campfires for departed souls to exorcisms with a sledgehammer, both defendants must now face earthly judges. Investigators in Samut Prakan await the property owner’s green light for a complaint, while the case in Khon Kaen proceeds through the legal system. In any case, Yi Win Miu’s dwelling is destroyed. Who will oversee the devastated property in the future remains open.
Source: Thaiger