Police are hunting a serial rapist and murderer who is believed to have struck nine times in Samut Songkhram and Nakhon Pathom provinces over the past five years.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), the Provincial Police Region 7 and the local police on Friday held a joint meeting to discuss how to catch the rapist who reportedly attacks elderly women.
Officers revealed that two of the nine victims were murdered by someone who stamped on their chests.
Police believe the suspect suffers from a psychological disorder due to the brutal manner in which the two women died and because he only targets elderly women.
However, the name of the suspect was withheld.
On Dec 25 last year, officers at Phutthamonthon police station in Nakhon Pathom were alerted to the rape of a 39-year-old woman.
Police believe the suspect broke into the victim's home with the intention of raping her 70-year-old mother.
The victim accidentally entered a room on the first floor as the suspect was making his way through the house.
He fled the scene after the attack.
The DNA collected from the latest victim showed that the suspect was the same person who committed eight rapes between 2010 and 2014.
The suspect is about 170cm tall, strong and after each crime, he locks the door to the house, according to victims.
Pol Col Akkaradet Pimolsri, deputy CSD commander, said the division will continue its investigation using information and evidence provided by Provincial Police Region 7.
The CSD team was sent to speak to more witnesses and compile evidence from each crime scene.
Pol Maj Gen Thitirat Nonghanphitak, the deputy chief of the CIB, said he and a team of bureau investigators have also examined the crime scenes.
Escape routes on both land and water which could have been used by the rapist were also examined.
On Sept 26, 2010, a 70-year-old woman was attacked and raped close to Ban Paew police station, Nakhon Pathom, while on Nov 10, in the area of Nakhon Chaisi police station in the same province, a 71-year-old woman was also raped.
On Jan 8, 2012, Bang Khonthi police station was alerted to the rape and murder of a 61-year-old woman who lived alone in tambon Bang Yi Rong, Samut Songkhram.
The fourth case occurred in the same tambon when a 59-year-old woman was attacked and raped on Dec 6 in 2012.
In the same month on Dec 8 and Dec 16 two women aged 70 and 47 years old were attacked in Samut Songkhram.
In 2013, the suspect allegedly raped a 75-year-old woman in Nakhon Pathom on March 23 and on June 11, a 78-year-old woman was allegedly raped and killed.
A source said after the rape on June 11, 2013, police believed the suspect fled to another province.
However, on Dec 25 last year, he committed the same crime again.
After the incidents, several victims decided to move out of their homes because they were afraid the rapist would come back.
A police source in the investigation team said Pol Lt Gen Thitirat has set a two-week deadline for local police to arrest the suspected rapist as he fears he might commit more crimes in Nakhon Pathom, Samut Songkhram and other adjacent provinces.