A family’s pet dog unknowingly brought home a live hand grenade, triggering a bomb disposal operation after the explosive was discovered outside a house in Sisaket, northeastern Thailand.
The incident occurred on 10 July in Bok subdistrict, Non Khun district, after district officials received reports of a suspicious object resembling a grenade at a residential property.
Police and emergency personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene over fears the device could still be live.
By the time officers arrived, the homeowner had already moved the object to an open area away from the house as a precaution before authorities secured the scene for further inspection.
The homeowner, identified only as Rungnapa, said she returned home that afternoon and noticed a rusty, dark-coloured object outside the house. After picking it up, she spotted what appeared to be the safety pin of a hand grenade and quickly moved it away from the home before questioning family members about where it had come from.
Her grandmother later explained that the family’s dog had carried the object back from an unknown location earlier that morning and had spent several hours chewing on it outside the house.
The family initially believed the object was an old bone or a piece of plastic until its true identity became apparent.
“If the dog had bitten the safety pin or dropped it onto the ground with enough force, I don’t know what would have happened. It still gives me chills because everyone in the house, including the dog, was close to the grenade all morning,” Rungnapa said.
Police later called in an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) unit, which confirmed the object was a Type 82-2 fragmentation hand grenade manufactured in China.
Although the grenade’s exterior was heavily rusted, bomb disposal officers said its internal mechanisms remained intact, meaning it was still capable of exploding if the safety pin was removed or the device received sufficient impact.
Officials explained that grenades of this type are occasionally discovered in border areas after being abandoned for many years, warning that corrosion does not make old explosives safe and may, in fact, make them even more unpredictable.
The EOD team later transported the grenade to a remote rice field away from nearby communities, where it was safely destroyed in a controlled explosion.
The blast left a crater approximately 30 centimetres deep and 60 centimetres wide, confirming that the grenade remained fully operational despite its age.
No injuries were reported.
Authorities have urged the public not to touch, move or inspect any suspicious objects resembling grenades, ammunition or military explosives, advising residents to immediately notify police or bomb disposal experts to prevent potentially fatal accidents.
