Chiang Mai mother pays 400 baht (plus extras) for husband’s murder

A Chiang Mai mother trapped in a loveless marriage of more than 20 years, last week decided that she had taken enough beatings and abuse.

Living in the village of Khun Yuam, Kanda Cheewasawat was exhausted by the brutality of her vicious, drunken husband Phetchaburapa Meesri many years before. She had often tried to leave, but he wouldn’t let her. And if she left, he’d drag her back.

So she decided to have him killed.

Hitman for hire

It may be hard work finding a hitman in rural Chiang Mai province, but then again, maybe not.

In either case, Joma Ae, a local Burmese farmer, was probably not the right man for the job.

Even to a poor man like Joma Ae, the 400 baht (US$12) the Chiang Mai mother had to her name was never going to be enough. Unable to convince him to slay her husband in cold blood, she decided to heat the killer’s blood.

Kanda, herself 46 years old and somewhat tarnished by years of harsh matrimonial duties, threw her fair daughter into the bargain, and under a bus. Joma Ae would have the maid’s hand in marriage when the deed was done.

The deeds are done

It was not long before Phetchaburapa’s cold corpse was found deep in the forest of nearby Mae Hong Son province. A shocked local man stumbled onto the bloody scene while hunting and gathering in the vicinity.

Barely recognisable, the 54 year old Phetchaburapa had been horribly beaten with a heavy bamboo cane before he succumbed, thrashed to death by a man with a stick.

Basic police work quickly led Region 5 officers to Burmese suspect Joma Ae, who worked in an orchard in the village.

Joma Ae was quick to assist the police in their enquiries. According to a local news report…

“He said he was not angry with the victim. He killed him because he was hired to do so.”

Joma Ae said…

“Ms Kanda paid me 400 baht for killing her husband, and also promised me she would let me have her daughter if I was successful.”

Kiss and tell

Kanda Cheewasawat was arrested in Chiang Mai last week for arranging the death of her husband. Phetchaburapa Meesri.

Chiang Mai mother Kanda fled to Chang Puak and went into hiding, but with the Royal Thai Police on her tail, and not a single baht in her pocket, there could be no escape from the ever-spinning wheel of justice.

When the cops nabbed Kanda she admitted to having her husband killed, saying she was angry with him, and who is to disbelieve her?

And from the comely wench whose touted delights brought tragedy down on her poor mother’s head, not a word has been heard.