Hungry man asks to be arrested in Phuket

Chayaphol Addin is seen with a single "ya ba" pill at Wichit police station in Muang district of Phuket on Saturday. He asked to be arrested in order to get food. Police blurred his identity. (Wichit police photo)

PHUKET: A man walked into a police station on this resort island on Saturday with a single methamphetamine tablet, asking to be arrested so that he would have something to eat.

Thammasant Boonsong, deputy chief of the Wichit police station in Muang district, said he and his colleagues were surprised when Chayaphol Addin, 20, turned up at the station, presented one "ya ba" pill and asked officers to apprehend him.

Mr Chayaphol told them that he lost his job as an electrician after Covid-19 hit the island and could not leave the province to stay with his mother in Phatthalung due to the island lockdown, Pol Lt Col Thammasant said.

The man said if he were imprisoned, he would at least be given regular meals, the deputy police station chief added.

Police charged him with possession of illicit drugs and were monitoring him closely due to concerns that he might be suffering mental problems and was at risk of harming himself.