Body of loan shark found in Thailand river, 7 baht of gold jewellery missing
The body of a Thai woman missing for three days was recovered from a river in Chumphon province in southern Thailand yesterday. The gold jewellery she usually wears, worth 220,000 baht, was missing.
The deceased – 32 year old Chadathip – ran a loan business and never returned from an appointment she made to chase money from a debtor on Sunday at 6pm, according to her friend Su.
Officers from Phato Police Station were informed by a village chief that fishermen found a corpse on a rock near Trang Village in Phato subdistrict.
Police found Chadathip’s shirtless body lying in the middle of the shallow river. An autopsy at Surat Thani Hospital revealed that Chadathip was murdered, sustaining stab wounds and injuries from blunt objects on her head, arms, torso and body. The autopsy identified 10 serious wounds.
Chadathip usually wore a gold necklace weighing five baht and a gold bracelet weighing two baht, valued at around 220,000 Thai baht.
However, Chadathip’s gold necklace and bracelet were missing from her corpse. The only jewellery the murderer did not take was a ring engraved with her surname.
Police estimated that the woman died three days prior to being discovered which aligned with a Facebook post by Chadathip’s relatives stating that she was missing, which led to her identification.
Chadathip’s friend Su testified to the police that on Sunday at 6pm, Chadathip and a debtor, that had owed her money for several months, drove away in a black Isuzu pickup truck and never returned.
Informal loans are common in Thailand but it is usually the debtor who becomes a victim of violence when they can’t make repayments.
Last month, a loan shark in Phitsanulok claimed that a debtor shot herself in the head at his house due to “financial stress.”
In other cases, a loan shark shot a debtor eight times in the head, a loan shark bombed a debtor’s house and a loan shark broke into a debtor’s house and poured stinky fermented fish sauce all over the house.
