PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: The man who apparently committed suicide by letting a southern train run over him on Saturday night phoned his wife beforehand and confessed he killed a 39-year-old woman whose body, with multiple stab wounds, was found in his rented townhouse in Hua Hin district, police said.
Investigators had identified Dittawat Droch, 28, a Thai-Swiss hotel staffer in Hua Hin, as the prime suspect in the murder of Suchapat Hiranpanthachot, said Pol Maj Gen Surasak Suksawaeng, chief of Prachuap Khiri Khan provincial police. Police were searching for him when he apparently took his own life by lying down in front of an oncoming train at a crossing in neighbouring Cha-am on Saturday night, shortly after the body of the woman was found,
Suchapat, an online saleswoman from Bangkok’s Prawet district, was found dead on Saturday evening at the townhouse rented by Dittawat at Phu Tawan housing estate in Hua Hin. The woman had been stabbed several times in the neck, and her body was stuffed into a large plastic container in a bathroom.
Pol Maj Gen Surasak said Dittawat had met Suchapat online and arranged to meet her at his townhouse. The reason for the meeting was unclear, but Thai media speculated the two were having an affair and that during an argument, he flew into a murderous rage. He allegedly struck her head with a hard object before stabbing her to death and stuffing her body into the plastic container. He then went to work as usual, Thai media reported on Monday.
After investigators found the body and later obtained evidence implicating Dittawat in the murder, the man phoned his wife Anchalee to remorsefully confess he had killed the 39-year-old woman, said the Prachuap Khiri Khan police chief. He then lay down in front of the train in nearby Cha-am district.
The investigators had yet to establish the motive for the murder. They were awaiting forensic results before concluding the case, said Pol Maj Gen Surasak.
The Sawang Sanphet Rescue Foundation on Saturday night quoted an eyewitness as saying Dittawat rode his motorcycle to the crossing, jumped off and ran over to the tracks, where he lay down as the Sungai Kolok-bound express train was approaching.
Thai media reported that on Oct 6 Suchapat posted photos of her hotel room in Hua Hin on Facebook with the message “Recharging batteries...dumping bad things into the sea".
On Oct 8, she posted a picture of herself sitting in her car. It was to be her final Facebook post. She wrote: "It's just dust. It will be washed away."