PATTAYA - An Iranian man and his Thai wife were found murdered at their Iranian restaurant on Tuesday, and the prime suspect is a missing Myanmar employee.
Pattaya police were called to open the locked Banoo Iranian Restaurant in South Pattaya about noon on Tuesday. The premises had been locked since last week and the owners had not been seen.
They found the bodies of Mojtaba Ghanbariazad, 64, and Thanaporn Poonprakhon, 49, in the second-floor bedroom of the three-storey property.
Kritporn Ajinkit, 27, a friend, told police that on Thursday last week the couple had a loud argument with their Myanmar employee, who later rode off on their motorcycle and did not return.
A neighbour who gave his name as Pan said the restaurant had been closed since last Thursday. On Tuesday morning, the slain wife's relative had arrived there and found it locked. She called police.
The relative said Thanaporn had told her in a dream that she could not get out of the restaurant. She asked police to open the premises and check it out. Police found the two bodies.
According to Mr Pan, the missing Myanmar employee had been assaulted for not doing his job properly. Police initially identified the suspect as Min, aged 21 years.
Police had yet to announce the nature of the murder. They did find a hammer in the bedroom.