carhire Lyrics

February 13, 2008
Strange case
I'm having difficulty understanding those who carried out the apparent crime in this case. Stealing a vehicle is one thing, but entering into a rental agreement for a large minivan and then refusing the pay the full rental fee and to return the vehicle is another. How can someone expect to get away with such a crime? Read the story and see if it makes sense to you.

apparent - appearing to be something although it might not be
fee - money paid for a service ค่าธรรมเนียม
get away with - to succeed in doing something bad or illegal รอดตัวไปได้

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Car-hire victims suspect police
Pol Cpl Montri Thewarat, left, explains to the owner of a missing minivan how the vehicle, pictured, came to be in the police headquarters car park, under the watchful eye of police spokesman Pol Lt-Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen,

One of the victims of an alleged racket involving a vehicle-hire scheme was stunned to see his missing minivan parked at police headquarters when he went to file a complaint yesterday.

The victims now suspect that some policemen might be working with the people they claim had swindled them by offering to act as rental agents for their vehicles.

Kasem Sasakul, 48 said he arrived at the Royal Thai Police head office yesterday morning with some of the other victims to lodge a complaint.

He was astounded to see his missing 11-seat van in the parking lot near the Special Branch office. He waited in the area for a while and saw a man walk up to his minivan and open one of its doors.

Mr Kasem took photos of the man and the minivan, and was even more surprised when the man left and went inside the Special Branch office.

Mr Kasem said he approached the man and told him he was the van's owner.

The man identified himself as Pol Cpl Montri Thewarat, attached to Special Branch Division 3.

Pol Cpl Montri said a man called Somchai had left the van with him on Monday evening.

He said Mr Somchai had rented the van but suspected it was a stolen vehicle, so he decided to ask police to search for the real owner.

Mr Kasem said he was suspicious about the story and asked police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen to investigate how his van was brought into the police compound.

Mr Kasem said he rented out his van to Yufuku Decorate Co on Dec 11 last year for a fee of 51,000 baht. The company agreed to pay him the money in three instalments. The firm made the first instalment but refused to pay any more, and did not return his vehicle.

A group of 50 people have accused Thanchanok Deesantia, owner of Paradise Palace, and Natnarin Moohammad, owner of Yufuku Decorate, of swindling them by offering to rent out their vehicles through the two companies.

They allege they did not receive the payments promised and their efforts to get their vehicles back had been unsuccessful.

Suthep Songsiri yesterday represented those 50 people in handing their complaint to Pol Lt-Gen Pongsapat.

One complainant, who asked not to be named, said he believed more than 300 vehicles could be involved in the alleged scam. Total losses for the owners could be in the area of 180 million baht.

victims - people who have been harmed, injured or killed as the result of a crime เหยื่อ
alleged - claimed to be true, even though this has not been proved ที่ถูกกล่าวหา
racket - an illegal activity that makes money การหาเงินจากกิจกรรมที่ผิดกฎหมาย
scheme - a plan for achieving something แผนการ
stunned - very shocked or upset ตกตะลึง งงงัน
file - to take official action, e.g. to make an official complaint (to lodge a complaint) ยื่นคำร้อง
suspect - to believe that something is true, especially something bad สงสัย
swindle - to cheat someone in order to get their money หลอกลวง ต้มตุ๋น
astounded - extremely surprised or shocked น่างงงวย ประหลาดใจ
approached - moved closer to; spoke to someone about something for the first time เข้าใกล้
identified - gave his name ระบุนาม
suspicious - believing that someone has probably done something wrong น่าสงสัย ที่น่าหวาดระแวง
investigate - finding out the facts about something in order to learn the truth ตรวจสอบหาข้อเท็จจริง
compound - an enclosed area, often with several buildings in it บริเวณ
instalment - one of several payments that an amount is divided into, so that you do not have to pay the whole amount at one time เงินผ่อนเป็นงวดๆ
complainant - a person who makes a complaint ผู้บ่น ผู้ติติง
scam - a dishonest plan, especially for getting money แผนการร้าย เล่ห์อุบาย