Divers on Saturday retrieved the bodies of three suspected brewers of addictive Krathom drink who drowned on Friday as they tried to escape police arrest in Tha Sala district of Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Drivers from the Tai Teck Toeng foundation led by Mr Suthep Manop first found the body of 19-year old Chakkrapan Pengruang in Klong Tha Hin beside Mae Takien. Shortly afterward, they retrieved the bodies of 23-year old Kanisorn Srisawang and 20-year old Kraiwit Siangyai from the klong, about three metres from the point they jumped into the klong.
The three victims and six other colleagues were alleged to be brewing leaves of Krathom, an addictive plant, beside the klong in Tambon Klai on Friday. As police approached them to make an arrest, all nine of them threw themselves into the klong to try to escape, but the three victims could not swim and drowned.
Villagers said that the klong is about 2-3 metres deep and is very wide as a result of heavy rains in the past several weeks.
