Missing karaoke girl found dead in alley

PHUKET TOWN: The decomposing corpse of a missing karaoke girl from Phang Nga was found in a downtown alley on Monday afternoon, and police are investigating whether the girl committed suicide by jumping from the car park of a nearby hotel – or whether she was pushed. The body of 24-year-old Sirijit “Aom” Chuwong was recovered from an inaccessible alley running between the Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel on Chana Jaroen Rd and Kinnaree Karaoke, where the girl had been employed as a waitress. Pol Lt Col Chote Chidchai told the Gazette the girl had been dead at least a week before the discovery of the body, which he described as having dyed red hair and a tattoo of a dragon on one thigh. He said the girl’s bra had been pushed up, possibly indicating that she had been sexually assaulted. Her mobile phone was found next to a retaining wall on the third floor of the hotel car park, above where the corpse was discovered, indicating that she fell from there to her death. One leg was apparently crushed by the impact, he added. The girl was reported missing just a day before she was found dead. Making the report, her father, 47-year-old Boonsong Chuwong, told officers at the Phuket Town Police Station that he was worried because she had not contacted her family in almost a month. Police questioned the girl’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Weera Intaranon, who told them he had not seen K. Aom in two months and had assumed that she had returned to Phang Nga. The couple had two children, aged one and three years. Colleagues at the karaoke bar told investigators that K. Aom had had many problems with her relationship with K. Weera, was miserable, and often discussed taking her own life. They said that at about 2 am on January 17, K. Aom talked to someone on her mobile phone and then rushed out without telling anyone where she was going. They had not seen her since. Col Chote told the Gazette today that that officers are still awaiting autopsy results from the Phuket Police Forensic Science Division which is attempting to determine the exact cause of death and checking for signs of rape. In the meantime, he said, both possible scenarios – murder and suicide – were being investigated.