A Plutaluang meatball seller slapped with a 31,000 baht water bill three years ago is in more hot water after authorities discovered he’s been stealing from a Sattahip District pipeline.
Yutapong Sirikanyalak, 20, is facing charges for connecting his Khao Mon Golden Hill Village home’s water pipes to a neighbor’s and continuing to siphon water off the mainline for two months after that neighbor moved.
Yutapong Sirikanyalak shows the exorbitant water bills he received, adding up to 31,187 baht after only 2 months.
For the young meatball vendor, it’s just the latest chapter in an ongoing saga involving the Sattahip Water Supply Department.
It began in November 2012, a month after he moved into the house owned by his sister. He got his first water bill and was shocked to see it was 15,591 baht. Another shocker came the following month with another bill of 15,596 baht, leaving him owing the district 31,187 baht.
At the time, he protested and said there was either an error or something was wrong with his water meter. Water Authority officials said they checked and found the meter was working correctly, however.
After that, he severed his connection to the district water supply and connected to his neighbor’s house and they shared the presumably much-lower bill.
Fast-forward nearly three years and Yutapong still owes the 31,187 baht and came back on the Water Supply Department’s radar when they discovered someone was using water from a house that was supposedly vacant.
Local authorities were brought in to help negotiate a happy ending for both the vendor and the water department, but Water Authority officials again claimed Yutapong’s meter was working correctly. Yutapong now will face charges for stealing water from the neighbor’s house.
