Ex-inmate sets fire to school, hoping for free meals in jail

An ex-inmate kept his word by setting fire to a school, saying he felt more comfortable in jail than outside where he finds it hard to get enough to eat.

Police arrested Pirapong Mala, 23, at his house in Moo 8 in Tambon Sattahip of Chon Buri’s Sattahip district shortly after he allegedly burned the stage curtain of the auditorium of the Lert Panya School in the same neighbourhood on Sunday night.

Fortunately, teachers and a janitor saw the blaze and quickly put it out. The fire only damaged the curtains and some exercise mats.

The young man was taken to the school to re-enact the crime on Monday morning.

Sattahip police said Pirapong had recently been released after serving a jail term for marijuana abuse. When he was released, he told prison officials he would set fire to a school so that he could come back to jail. He also repeated the threat in front of teachers.

Pirapong said he climbed over the school wall to set the fire, then returned to his house to wait for police. He said he felt comfortable living in prison, where he was given enough to eat, and he found it difficult to feed himself on the outside.

The Nation

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