CityNews – May 13th, at Investigation Division Provincial Police Region 5, police released a statement of the arrest of 32-year-old Sawet Manotham, originally from Mae Hong Son province for killing a woman and then burning her body to hide the evidence.
On April 23rd, 2015, police in Mae Hong Son were informed of a dead burnt body found in a hut in Khun Yuam’s Muang Pon sub-district, Mae Hong Son. The dead body was later identified as Saengkam Suddaenklai or Wanwinit.
Police of Investigation Division Provincial Police Region 5 went to inspect the scene and traced the suspect, who was later identified as Sawet Manotham.
Sawet, upon his arrest, admitted to his crime and confessed that on April 18th, he set up an appointment with Saengkam on the phone to meet at a place in order to negotiate the repayment of her debt to him.
Sawet accused Saengkam of refusing to pay him his cut of seven parcels of opium they sold together, 139,000 baht.
When Saengkam came alone to see him, he put her motorcycle in his pickup car. They then went to the hut to negotiate the payment terms, but ended up disagreeing with one another. Saengkam claimed that she didn’t have any money at the time. Suwet became enraged and punched her on the chin. He claims that he thought that she was only unconscious, but then discovered that she was dead. In a panic, he covered her with a blanket and wood chips and lit a fire to burn all evidence before escaping.
He sold her motorcycle and has since spent the money.
According to Police Major General Pacha Rattanapan of Police Region 5, police are now tracing his accomplice, Tun, from Burma, believed to have helped to attempt to conceal the dead body.
Sawet, an ex local boxer, was a fruit seller in Mae Hong Son’s Mae La Luang district. Though he sold opium on the side.
Saengkam was his uncle’s ex-wife. In 2009, Sawet was jailed for possession of 16 yaba pills.