Thread: Patong crocodile man stabbed

A handler carries Liddar the crocodile to a cell in Patong


Patong Crocodile 'Smile' Man Run Down, Knifed

By Chutima Sidasathian and Paweena Petyoi
Friday, December 4, 2009
A ''SMILE'' vendor on bail for illegal possession of protected wildlife lost his crocodile in Patong . . . and three days later, a savage stabbing almost cost him his life.

Adisak Rakhanam, 26, was run over by an attacker in a car before the knifeman stabbed him seven times in the back and left side soon after midnight in Kamala this morning.

The drama took place outside the Aoo Chat motorcycle repair shop in the main street. Khun Adisak was recovering in Bangkok Hospital Phuket this afternoon as police hunted his attacker.



''We know who did the stabbing,'' Police Lieutenant Chansarawul Sangaroon, of Kamala Police Station, told Phuketwan. ''We will bring him in as soon as we find him.''

Lieutenant Chansarawul said that Khun Adisak was part of a gang running illegal businesses, including football gambling, in Patong.

Losing the crocodile would not have endeared him to gang members. Khun Adisak and his one-and-a-half metre crocodile, Liddar, were both taken into custody on Tuesday after an anonymous tourist complained to police.

While Liddar was kept in a cell, Khun Adisak was awarded bail. Fishery officials took Liddar away yesterday and her likely new home will be on a crocodile farm.

Patong Crocodile 'Smile' Man Run Down, Knifed - Phuket Wan