Thai man found dead 3 days after escaping arrest for theft

A Thai man, who escaped arrest by fleeing into roadside grassland after stealing from a convenience store in the central province of Ayutthaya, has been found dead three days after he disappeared.

Bang Pa-in Police Station officers were called to the cattail grassland near Sin Thiwa Thani Village in Bang Pa-in district, Ayutthaya, at about 5pm yesterday, November 11, to investigate the discovery of a man’s body. The body was found in a small pond behind grass that was approximately 3 to 4 metres high.

The first person to find the body was a 47 year old man named Saichon Jaiporkuan. He told police that the deceased was his younger brother, 44 year old Kanathip Jaiporkuan. Kanathip climbed over the village wall into the grassland and went missing on November 8.

Saichon explained that his brother stole from a nearby convenience store and escaped into the grassland. He had been searching for his brother since that day.

Kanathip was found lying face down in the pond, wearing a black long-sleeve jacket with tattoos on his back, left arm, and legs. His body bore signs of being bitten and consumed by reptiles, suspected to be monitor lizards that approached the scene during the investigation.

Due to the presence of these reptiles, Kanathip’s right arm and both lower legs were bitten down to the bone. Officers discovered a can of coffee, a pack of pickled fish, a pack of pork, and two packs of beans that he stole from the store in his jacket.

The deceased’s wife, 37 year old Namthip Khudpan, told ThaiRath that her husband previously worked in a factory but left to start at a new company. He was due to begin his new job yesterday.

Namthip stated that her husband had never stolen before, adding she could not understand his motives. He had no financial issues, as he was about to start a new job.

A rescue team suspected that Kanathip may have been exhausted from escaping arrest or possibly bitten by a venomous insect within the grassland, rendering him unable to escape and vulnerable to an attack by monitor lizards.