Be it drain covers, metal pipes or telephone cables, if it’s not tied down, someone will eventually try to steal it and sell for scrap, no matter how much it inconveniences others.
Such was the case again last week when three Thais were caught cutting down 50 meters of TOT Co. telephone line near the entrance of Sukhumvit Soi 85 in Pattaya.
Supakorn Sutiyakarn, 22; Somkuan Thapkaew, 28; and Somkiat Parn-ampan, 22; were nabbed by TOT employees with the cable in their JWJ Engineering truck. The trio alleged they were hired by the company to steal lucrative utility cables, which the company could then sell for 200 baht a kilogram at a scrap yard.
They said this was the third time they’d done it.
A TOT representative said cable theft is common, but expensive. Repairs will cost about 200,000 baht and, of course, phone service in the area was disrupted.
