PHUKET: Diners at the popular P Pizza House restaurant in the Samkong area of Phuket Town got a fright recently when a man in an adjacent lot fired up a blowtorch and began searing the flesh of what appeared to be a strange new creature with enormous front claws.

Closer inspection revealed that the animal was in fact a goose the man had caught and killed, then suspended upside down with wire.

The surprised diners had initially confused its rump and anus for a one-eyed head and its thin neck for a tail. Its webbed feet, curled up under the effect of rigor mortis, were mistaken as claws.

P Pizza serves tasty Italian and Thai cuisine – but goose is not on the menu.

An obscenely shaped tree at a police station in the northern province of Phayao has reportedly predicted the winning lottery numbers.

The talented tamarind tree is in the yard of Phayao Muang Police Station. The tree has an approximately two-foot-long gash in its trunk with a fist-sized sparkling lump at one end.

Villagers say the combination makes the tree look like it has a large female sexual organ.

Thongphian Thammakhan, 50, the owner of a shop on the police station grounds, said the tree is about 100 years old. She said the tree has always had the gash in the trunk but has only recently developed the shiny mound. Villagers are apparently unsure as to why the lump shines.

Using deeply-held beliefs in numerology, villagers managed to find the number 008 in the tree’s trunk. Some villagers then bought lottery tickets in Phayao. After the number came up, the reputation of the tree spread far and wide.

There are as yet no further reports of correct predictions from the tree.

A RUSSIAN tour company boss is behind bars for allegedly selling bottles of liquor containing the pickled remains of poisonous animals including king cobras, centipedes and scorpions.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the concoctions themselves turned out be poisonous.

Pattaya Police arrested Andrey Akulov, 40, on July 31 after receiving reports that one man died and others suffered strong allergic reactions from drinking his bizarre tinctures.

Mr Akulov allegedly claimed the concoctions boosted strength and sexual prowess. When police raided his offices in Pattaya they found 220 75cl bottles containing the potions, which the Russian had ordered from Laos.

Mr Akulov said he sold the bottles for 2,400 baht each to foreigners and Thais.

His “Intourist” tour company was a front for various other illegal activities, police said. As well as the potions, police found several fake Nokia cellphones at his offices.

During the search, a foreign tourist wandered in asking to change money. The police promptly added exchanging money without a license to the growing list of charges the Russian will face.

Later the same day, police searched another of Mr Akulov’s offices, finding more than 600,000 baht in foreign currency and contraband.

NAKHON PATHOM: Singaporean businessman Ho Kee Wong, 52, made the journey to Wat Sawang Arom in Nakhon Pathom in central Thailand hoping to rent a lucky peanut with five nuts inside the same pod – but was turned away empty-handed.

Ho was hoping to emulate fellow Singaporean construction material trader Lee Yern Wai, 55, who struck it rich after acquiring one of the temple’s lucky “five-in-one” nuts.

Mr Ho said the remarkable story of Mr Lee was well known in Singapore.

Two years ago, bankrupt and with no money to invest, Mr Lee had traveled to Thailand in pursuit of holy objects that could make him lucky again.

A tour company took Mr Lee to Wat Sawang Arom, where he met a monk known as “Ajarn Pae”.

Ajarn Pae gave Mr Lee a five-nut peanut, telling him to keep it and worship it. This type of nut was very rare in Thailand and was said to make whoever possessed it lucky in business, Ajarn Pae told Mr Lee.

Nuts in hand, Mr Lee became increasingly successful in his various ventures, according to Mr Ho. When he went to a casino, he was extremely lucky, winning hundreds of thousands of coins.

Mr Lee told his friends his luck was because of the five-in-one peanut, which he kept on a pedestal and worshiped.

When Mr Ho heard the story, he scoured the markets in Singapore for more five-nut jobs – but to no avail.

Determined to get his hands on one, he flew to Thailand with Malay friend Riharn Ohroon to visit the temple.

The pair met Ajarn Pae, offering him 2,000 baht to rent one of the nuts. They also searched the stalls near the temple, but were disappointed to find nothing better than four-in-ones.

Ajarn Pae told the pair that five-in-ones were rarer than gold. In 20 rai of peanut trees, you might find just one of them, he said.

He added that 20 years ago, a pupil had donated five of them to the temple for safekeeping, saying they brought whoever possessed them great luck in doing trade. Ajarn Pae told merchants in the area that he would buy the special nuts from them for 50 baht each.

Eventually Ajarn Pae acquired about 70 of them. Today, he has about 50 left after giving some away to pupils and people who had done good works for the temple.

They were not for sale, Ajarn Pae told the two hopeful foreigners. The villagers all knew they were lucky and anyone who found one either kept it or sold it to the temple, he added.

NAKHON RACHASIMA: Authorities at Khao Yai National Park have given a stern warning to tourists, ordering them to stop taunting the park’s pair of two-meter-long crocodiles.

The warning came after officials spotted visitors tempting the beasts with their feet.

The reptiles first hit the headlines last year when they were seen swimming around a waterhole in the park, which is not a natural habitat for crocs.

The pair have since become a tourist attraction in themselves. Park authorities initially planned to catch the animals and take them to another park better suited to their way of life, but as they seemed to be thriving in Khao Yai and not damaging the natural environment, they were allowed to stay.

Now park authorities worry that a tourist could lose a leg or even their lives to the crocodiles.

Khao Yai National Park chief Manot Kanphanakngan described the behavior of some tourists as “very worrying.”

Many tourists stop to try and spot the crocodiles. Often, if the creatures can’t be spotted, tourists dangle their feet into the pond to try and attract them. Others use sticks to hit the water to get the attention of the crocodiles before running away when they approach.

Some foolhardy visitors wait for the crocodiles to approach, then hit them on the head with a stick before fleeing for their lives, Mr Manot said.

The tourists do not know just how dangerous crocodiles can be, he said.

The crocodiles could easily bite off a person’s leg with a single chomp or even rip their heads off.

Humans aren’t the only primates with good reason to stay clear of the crocs.

Recently one of the beasts bit in half a monkey that strayed too close to the water’s edge, he said.

Also worrying is the crocodiles’ habit of coming out to bask near a popular camping area.

Park authorities put up signs warning people not to tease the crocodiles, but may even have to close off that area of the park if visitors continue to disregard the warning.