A Bangkok court has denied bail for a homeless man accused of slashing a Vietnamese woman with a box cutter outside a convenience store in the city’s Silom business district, as police cited concerns that he could harm someone else if released.
The attack happened around 11:30 a.m. on June 27 on the sidewalk outside a 7-Eleven near the entrance to Silom Soi 5, according to several news sources. Silom is one of Bangkok’s busiest commercial corridors, lined with offices, hotels and street-level shops that draw a steady mix of local workers, tourists and residents throughout the day, making any daytime street attack there highly visible. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, a 29-year-old Vietnamese national who works at an advertising company in Bangkok, was walking past the store when a man approached and cut her arm with a box cutter before running across the road, several reports said. Store staff helped the injured woman and called Thung Maha Mek police station, which arranged for her to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
The station superintendent, who was already on patrol nearby, ordered an immediate search once the report came in, according to several news sources. Officers reviewed security camera footage from across the Silom area to retrace the suspect’s movements after the attack. They tracked him through nearby alleys and arrested him the following morning without further incident, several reports said. Police identified him as 30-year-old Esana, also known by the nickname Film, a man from Lop Buri province who had been living without a fixed address in the area. Officers recovered a box cutter measuring roughly 23 centimeters, which they believe was used in the attack.
Police said the suspect initially told them he had targeted the woman because of her body size, telling officers he disliked overweight people, according to several news sources. He was charged with causing bodily harm.
On June 29, investigators brought the suspect before the South Bangkok Criminal Court for remand proceedings. Police asked the court to deny bail, pointing to the risk that he could reoffend and the need to protect public safety, several reports said. During that court appearance, the suspect gave a different account of his motive. He denied disliking overweight people and instead told officers he had been hearing voices, according to Khaosod English. Authorities have not publicly reconciled the two accounts, and the case remains under investigation.
Nguyen returned to the police station after her hospital treatment and identified Esana as her attacker, several reports said.
The case drew widespread attention in Thailand after a Facebook page shared photos and video from the arrest the day after the attack, pushing the story into national headlines. Much of the public reaction has centered on the random nature of the assault in a neighborhood that draws heavy foot traffic from office workers, tourists and shoppers throughout the day. Several reports said residents in the area told police the man had been seen wandering the neighborhood in the days before the attack and that his behavior had raised concern among locals.
Police have not released information about whether the suspect has a documented mental health history, and no decision has been announced on whether he will undergo a psychiatric evaluation as part of the ongoing case. A date for his next court appearance has not yet been made public.
The attack adds to a string of unprovoked street assaults that have periodically rattled Bangkok’s commercial districts in recent months, prompting renewed public discussion about safety on the city’s busiest sidewalks. The case has also reopened a broader conversation in Thailand about how authorities respond when someone showing signs of erratic or potentially dangerous behavior is reported to police before an incident occurs, since residents told reporters they had noticed the man in the neighborhood for some time. Officials at Thung Maha Mek police station have not said whether the case will lead to any changes in patrols around Silom, and they have not announced when the suspect’s next court appearance will take place.
