TRANG: A Thai woman was found dead with her throat slashed at a rubber plantation in Kantang district on Wednesday, a day after her jealous Myanmar husband phoned her father to tell him where her body was.
Police and forensic officers went to the rubber plantation in tambon Khok Yang, about 700 metres from a road, and found the body covered with a blanket. An iron bucket had been placed over her head.
The woman, later identified as Wilintra Philapan, 33, had suffered a knife wound to her throat. She had died at least two days before the body was discovered, said Pol Capt Boonlert Wankaew, a duty officer at Ban Khok Yang police station who was alerted at 2pm on Wednesday. Pol Col Nukul Kraithong, deputy chief of Trang police, led police and forensic officers to inspect the body.
The victim's father, Arkorn Philapan, told police he received a phone call from Mr O, his Myanmar son-in-law, at around 8pm on Tuesday. Mr O apologised to him and told him to 'pick up' his daughter, said Mr Arkorn.
After initially being confused by his son-in-law’s remarks, the father then realised that Mr O was asking him to retrieve the body of his daughter from a rubber plantation behind his house. The call was suddenly cut off, said Mr Arkorn.
He immediately phoned his 14-year-old grandson to help find his mother's body. After a search, the corpse was found.
Mr Arkorn believed Wilintra, who was his only child, was killed by her Myanmar husband. After separating from her former husband, she had been living with Mr O for about one year.
The tearful father called on police to bring the alleged killer to justice.
The 14-year-old son of the slain woman said he called his friends to help him find his mother after receiving the phone call from his grandfather. They found her body in the rubber plantation behind her house.
The boy said he and his younger sister had moved to stay with their mother about one week ago, after previously living with their father.
During that week, he said, his mother and his Myanmar stepfather often had quarrels fuelled by jealousy.
He did not understand why his stepfather had to kill his mother, he said. He believed his mother might have been killed on Nov 6 as he went to sleep at a friend’s house that night.
It was reported that local police have sought cooperation from immigration officers at border checkpoints to block all possible escape routes for the Myanmar suspect.