SONGKHLA: A 26-year-old teacher surrendered to police on Friday and confessed to the murder of his former girlfriend, found dead with multiple stab wounds in her car in Songkhla on Thursday night.
Natthaphat Somkid was escorted by members of his family to Muang Songkhla police station, where he turned himself in, Thai media reported.
He was the prime suspect in the murder of Soontree Samutararat, 29, who was a teacher at another school in Songkhla.
Mr Natthaphat allegedly confessed to the charges and police took him to the crime scene to look for the knife allegedly used in the murder. He told police he threw into trees on the roadside.
Witnesses reported seeing the woman arguing with and then fleeing from a man who caught and stabbed her, and then carried her back to her parked vehicle.
The murder was reported to police about 10.30pm on Thursday, on the Koh Taeo-Sam Kong Road in Moo 1 village of tambon Koh Taeo.
The chiefs of Muang Songkhla and Songkhla provincial police arrived at the scene to supervise the investigation.
The blood-soaked body was in the front passenger seat, her head resting on the dashboard, of a black Honda City car registered in Krabi. The victim was identified as Soontree Samutararat, and the car was hers.
Police said she had been stabbed eight times, in the face and torso. The severity of the wounds pointed to the killer's intense anger. A pair of woman's shoes were left at the driver's seat.
Investigators found drops of blood on the road, but no weapon.
Police quoted eyewitnesses as saying the car had parked there, and then a man and a woman were heard quarrelling, before she ran from the vehicle.
Police said the woman arrived there with her ex-boyfriend. She fled from the car but was stabbed near it and collapsed. The assailant then carried her back to the car and placed her in the passenger seat.