Breaking up is hard to do

HAAD YAI: A former Drug Suppression Division officer who turned to retail petroleum sales in Haad Yai established a personal fortune of more than 100 million baht. This, he assumed, entitled him to just about everything in the little empire he had created, including the right to repeatedly rape the wife of one of his most trusted employees. The husband, however, thought otherwise. The resulting conflict was only resolved when the gas station owner was found dead in his Honda CRV, the victim of 9 mm gunshot wounds. When police in Chumphon’s Sawee district found the victim, 40-year-old Chaiwat Theerasith, an investigation was launched which eventually led to the arrest of 30-year-old Prasert Sae-lim and his 32- year-old wife Jinda in a house in Songkhla’s Haad Yai district, where they had gone into hiding. Prasert confessed to the murder and told police that he had worked for the victim for about five years as a truck driver and gas station attendant. While working there he married Jinda, a co-worker, and they soon had a son together. All was going well. Prasert asked for, and was given permission to rent out a piece of the gas station property, where he and his family lived and operated their own tire repair service, in addition to continuing to help in the gas station. After a few years, Jinda bore a second son. But after a few months of trying to figure out if Junior looked like mom or like dad, Prasert realized that the child most closely resembled K. Chaiwat. When he asked his wife, she admitted that the boss had raped her repeatedly when Prasert was off the property, and that he had continued to do so – until she became pregnant. Jinda said that she was afraid to say anything about it because of the support K. Chaiwat had provided to the family. When Prasert confronted his boss, he was fired – and told to take the two young children with him. Jinda, however, would stay. His life suddenly out of control, Prasert took the two children to stay with relatives and entered the monkhood at a temple in Chumphon. But not long after this, his boss came to the temple and threatened him. This was more than Prasert could bear, so he arranged a meeting between the three so that the entire situation could be sorted out and he could bring his family back together. The meeting occurred in Village 7, Sawee district. Chaiwat arrived with Jinda sitting next to him in the front of the Honda. Prasert got in the back seat. Chaiwat agreed to give Jinda back to Prasert, along with some cash and support for the two children, but with one proviso: Chaiwat would be able to call up Jinda, who would have to report to have sex with him whenever he wanted. This caused a furious argument, and when Prasert saw his boss bend over in the front seat, he assumed the man was looking for a weapon. So he pulled out his own 9 mm gun and fired, killing Chaiwat. With Chaiwat dead and her husband going to prison, Jinda may be left with an unprecedented dilemma: having to find a new man.