5 charged over murder of Burmese man in Chiang Rai

After police officers from Maw Fah Luang in Chiang Rai received a tip-off from local residents to check a suspicious object floating in a swamp, a body was discovered in a 200 litre oil drum in Ban Thoet Thai.

When police arrived they found a 200 litre steel drum floating around near the swamp’s shore. In the tank they found the body of a male who was estimated to have been dead for at least 1 week. Authorities reported that the body was placed in a straw stack and tied tightly.

Since then, the Chiang Rai Regional Investigative Police followed up on the cases and have arrested 5 people yesterday on suspicion of murder.

44 year old Mr Handlab, one of the suspects, told police that the man in the oil tank was Satham Kham, originally from Myanmar. He also told police that he had a grudge against the the man due to his always following his mother around, and there were rumours that his mother was in a secret relationship with the deceased man.

Handlab said that the deceased man had created a lot of problems for his family and when he saw Satham he admitted that he shot him and tried to hide the evidence by putting him in the oil tank.

Police Colonel Phiphat Naradet, Director of Mae Fah Luang Police Station says that all 5 suspects had admitted to the murder of Satham.

“They will be charged with murder and collusion.”

SOURCE: Sanook