Body found in Thailand forest wearing someone else’s school uniform

A man searching for wild mushrooms discovered a corpse wearing a high schooler’s gym shirt in a forest in Chanthaburi province in central Thailand today.

Officers at Mueang Chanthaburi Police Station were informed that a local man found the body of a man wearing a gym shirt from a famous high school in a ditch in the forest in Moo 14, Khlong Narai subdistrict, Mueang district. Police travelled to the scene with rescue workers and forensic doctors from Prapokklao Hospital.

About 200 metres from the main road, police found the body of a man in a ditch expected to have died three to four days prior. Next to his body, police found a rope knotted into a noose which they confiscated as evidence.

The deceased was wearing black shorts and a blue high school gym shirt embroidered with a surname, so the police made a phone call to the school. Much to the police’s dismay, staff at the school informed them that the shirt’s owner – a high school student – was very much alive.

The high schooler said he had never leant his gym clothes to anyone and did not know who the deceased could be or how they got hold of his shirt. Police coordinated with the student’s parents to see if they could provide any useful information.

Chamlong Boonphathum, a 48 year old man from Chanthanaburi, testified to the police that after he finished his work making gems, he went out with a friend to look for Thai Phellinus mushrooms (Phellinus linteus), or “horseshoe mushrooms” as they are locally known. He said he regularly visits the forests to find mushrooms.

Chamlong was looking for fungus at the base of the Acacia tree when he spotted the deceased. At first, he thought it was a puppet, but after looking closely, realised it was a real human.

The deceased’s body was taken to Phraprakklao Hospital to undergo an autopsy.