Phuket murder suspect arrested in Athens

The Greek national, wanted for the murder of a Thai beautician in Phuket, has been reportedly arrested in Athens. Dimitrios ‘Dim’ Chairopoulos was arrested last Thursday, according to the Greek City Times. An arrest report states the 46 year old is “said to be the one who in February 2019, murdered his 43-year-old wife of Niramon ‘Bae’ Aewkaew in Phuket. Although the report didn’t name Chairopoulos, journalists from Greek news companies put two and two together after seeing his photos in the arrest report.

Thailand’s Cherng Talay Police had previously requested an Interpol Red Notice for Chairopoulos, who had allegedly fled the country before police could issue an arrest warrant back in 2019. Police confirmed that Dim was seen leaving the room at a guesthouse in Bang Tao where Niramon’s body was found on Saturday, February 16, 2019.

In the days leading up to her murder, her family had been desperately trying to contact her.

‘Bea’ was the eldest of five children from Phatthalung province and had been working in Phuket as a beautician at the time.

One of her sisters, May, was contacted on February 15 by one of Bea’s workmates trying to locate her.

According to The Phuket News, neither May nor Bea’s other sisters, relatives or friends were able to contact her. Bea had just moved to a new house so nobody knew where she was living. Another sister, Pichy, spoke to friends and was able, using Google Maps, to locate the guesthouse she was staying.

The owner of the room told the family that the air-conditioning was on in the room but there was no response. When the owner returned with a key he informed the family that Bea was found on the bed with a black cloth stuffed in her mouth and her hands and feet bound.

During his relationship and marriage with Bea, Dim was said to be ‘controlling’ and ‘jealous’ by members of Bea’s family. A close family friend told The Thaiger that the family had concerns for Bea’s safety and were ‘uncomfortable’ with her ongoing relationship and marriage with Dim.

“We tried to get to know him at family functions but he was not easy to know and seemed very possessive of Bea,” said one of the close family members who asked not to be named.

“He would drive past the beauty shops that Bea worked at and spy on her.”

“He did threaten to kill her if she ever left him and Oh, another of her sisters, went with Bea to file a report of the threats at the Cherng Talay Police station at the time.”

That report was made to the police in 2016. A year later the pair married and were still married at the time of the murder.