NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Divers began searching a lake on Sunday for a Thai woman missing since a quarrel with her Swiss husband three weeks ago at their home in Khon Buri district.
The search focused on a lake about 200 metres from the missing woman's home.
Orathai Posee-ngarm was last seen at her home in Ban Khok Kwan of tambon Cha Liang on the night of Jan 8. The 46 year-old inherited about 13 million baht from her first Swiss husband, who died in 2021. She remarried, to another Swiss man, and they moved to Thailand two years ago.
Her sister, Thidarat Posee-ngarm, told police she saw Orathai crying outside her home after a heated argument with her 53-year-old husband on Jan 8. No one had been able to contact her since that night. The next morning, Orathai's husband drove to Pattaya alone, and returned home on Jan 10.
She called him to ask for her sister's whereabouts and was told that Orathai went out to play cards. Her motorcycle was found on Jan 10 near a paddy field about two kilometres from home, and the family reported her disappearance to Khon Buri police.
Five divers started searching for Orathai's body in a lake about 200 metres from her home on Sunday morning. A search around the area where her motorcycle was found had produced no evidence as to what happened to her. The family suspects Orathai was murdered and that her body may have been dumped in the lake.
Pol Col Noppadon Chuayboon, Khon Buri police chief, told Thai Rath that seven people had been questioned, including the missing woman's husband and his friend in Pattaya. The investigation was ongoing, he said.
Ms Thidarat said her sister never before disappeared for more than a couple of days and would normally call her 18-year-old daughter or her father. Orathai liked gambling, she added.
Orathai's husband said he had an argument with Orathai about his trip to Pattaya, to visit a friend who has cancer. He then went to bed.
He did not see Orathai in the morning and so drove to Pattaya alone. He was very worried but still had hopes that Orathai would return home soon.
Orathai Posee-ngarm (screenshot)