Thai woman says human skull’s teeth belong to her missing husband

A fisherman pulled a human skull from a canal in Buriram province in northeast Thailand yesterday. A local woman says she knows the skull belongs to her missing husband because she clearly remembers his teeth.

Yesterday, officers at Ban Dan Police Station received a call from a fisherman who found a human skull submerged in the Lam Takhong canal to the south of Wat Rahan Temple in Ban Lahan village.

Police travelled to the scene to speak to 48 year old Worakorn Nusit, the fisherman who found the skull, and his friend.

Worakorn said he threw his fishing net into the canal and noticed something unusual in the net. He picked it up out of the water with his bare hands to realise he was holding a human skull.

The fisherman said he was in shock because nothing like this has happened to him before. He immediately called the police.

Police invited a 57 year old woman, Nid Panekram, and her daughter from Ban Samrong in Ban Dan district came to look at the skull. Nid’s husband went missing in October of last year.

Nid says she can tell the skull belongs to her 57 year old husband Ekachai Panekram. During the rainy season, Ekachai was receiving treatment at Ban Dan Hospital when he disappeared. None of the staff knew where he went.

A search party looked for Nid to no avail, until on February 13 this year, someone found human lower body bones in the local area. A DNA test revealed the bones matched the DNA of Nid and Ekachai’s daughter.

Nine days later, Worakorn pulled the skull from the canal. Nid says she remembers her husband’s teeth clearly.

Nid says she saw this coming…

“Someone in the village dreamt that my husband was in cold water and wanted to come out.

“So I made merit at the temple with water-pouring ceremonies until my husband’s remains were found.”

The police took the skull for DNA testing to confirm Nid’s identification.