March 11, 2008
BANGKOK - Police vowed to crackdown harder on teenagers who prey on power pylons following the collapse of an electricity tower after the nuts and bolts holding it up were stolen.
"All our regional police must do our utmost to patrol and search with a focus on cracking down on all kinds of crimes" including thefts from power pylongs, acting national police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan told reporters.
The rampant theft of nuts and bolts from power pylons by teenagers who sell them as scrap metal caught the attention of national media when a high-voltage electricty tower collapsed Friday in eastern Bangkok, according to AFP.
No one was injured by such accident.
Five teenagers including one five months pregnant were arrested for allegedly stealing the tower's nuts and bolts.
The group sold the nuts and bolts to a scrap metal dealer for 1,400 baht (44 dollars), which they spent at local pubs.
Thailand's biggest utility, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), said fixing the collapsed tower would cost up to 10 million baht.
