Barkar Nash (Page 920)

SURAT THANI: The Koh Samui Provincial Court has approved a police warrant for the arrest of a Spanish chef, suspected to have killed and dismembered the body of his Colombian surgeon lover in a hotel room on Koh Phangan island.

Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomjit, the Provincial Police Region 8 commissioner, said the court approval came after a DNA test of human parts found by trash collectors at a rubbish dump on the island on Thursday proved to be of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44, a Colombian national.

The two men were believed to have been involved in a relationship for about one year.

The Spanish suspect, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, has been detained at the Phangan police station. He has been charged with premeditated murder, concealing and removing body parts to cover up the death or the cause of death.

Pol Lt Gen Surapong said after admitting to killing and dismembering the Colombian, the suspect appeared relaxed.

Provincial and tourist police had conducted questioning of the Spaniard and gathered evidence in the case. Only the body parts which the suspect said had been dumped into the sea in a duffel bag had yet to be found. A search was continuing, he added.

In a statement given to police, the suspect claimed Arteaga came to his hotel room on Tuesday and asked for sex. The Spaniard became angry and hit him, causing Arteaga to fall and strike his head against the bath tub, cauisng his death.

Pol Lt Gen Surapong said investigators were not convinced by his statement because the acquired evidence indicated the murder was pre-meditated.

Police had learned that Mr Bronchalo asked Arteaga to come to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon party and that it was Arteaga who had paid Bronchalo’s expenses and allowed him to use his credit card. Moreover, Arteaga had also opened a restaurant for Mr Bronchalo in Spain, the officer said.

Therefore, the motive for the killing was still in doubt, Pol Lt Gen Surapong said. Aside from their relationship – which the suspect said had turned sour – money and property might also be factors. 

Pol Col Panya Nirattimanon, the Koh Phangan police chief, said it was confirmed that the suspect is the son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and actress Silvia Bronchalo. A well-known chef in his home country, he also had a YouTube channel.

His father was reportedly shocked on learning that his son had become a murder suspect. He had contacted the Spanish embassy in Thailand and was travelling to the country to see his son.

Arteaga, the victim, operated a successful cosmetic surgery business in Monteria, Colombia.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his younger sister Yingluck attended Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s birthday party in Cambodia on Saturday, according to Cambodian media outlets.

Fresh News and The Phnom Penh Post reported on Sunday that Thaksin and Yingluck were at the party on the occasion of Hun Sen’s 71st birthday in Ta Khmao, Cambodia.

It was reported that Thaksin and Yingluck stayed there for one night.

On Saturday Thaksin, 74, announced that he had to postpone his return to Thailand from Aug 10 for about two weeks pending medical checkups.

The fugitive former prime minister has been in self-imposed exile since being toppled by a coup in September 2006.

He returned briefly in 2008 and left the country in the same year shortly before the Supreme Court handed him a jail term for a case of conflict of interest.

He faced several other prosecutions and Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam recently said that three finalised cases resulted in a combined jail term of 10 years for the founder of Thai Rak Thai.

His daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra is a prime ministerial candidate of the Pheu Thai Party that is trying to form the new government after the May 14 general election.

His sister Yingluck Shinawatra who is also a former prime minister left the country in 2017 shortly before the Supreme Court sentenced her to five years in jail for failing to halt her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.

SURAT THANI: A kayak, believed to have been used by a Spanish chef to dump the body parts of his Colombian surgeon lover into the sea off Koh Phangan after killing him, was found on Saturday, police said.

The Spanish chef, Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, 29, is alleged to have killed Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, 44, a Colombian national, and dismembered the body at a hotel on Tuesday.

Trash collectors on Thursday discovered body parts, including a sawed-off pelvis and intestines weighing around five kilogrammes, inside a fertiliser sack at a garbage dump in Moo 4 of Koh Phangan.

The Spaniard was taken to the Koh Phangan police station on Friday for questioning in connection with the disappearance of the Colombian.

He initially denied any involvement but eventually admitted to killing the Colombian and dismembering the body in a hotel room.

He allegedly said he put parts of the body into a fertiliser sack and left it at a garbage dump on the island. He stuffed other parts into a suitcase, took it out to sea in a kayak and dumped it overboard.

On Saturday, police found a kayak left on Salat beach, about 300 metres from the hotel where the murder took place. It was believed to be the boat used by the Spaniard to dispose of the suitcase. 

Two women identified as Tuk and Kanda, the owners of the kayak, were taken by police for questioning. They told them that at about 9pm on Tuesday the Spanish man came to their shop and asked to rent a boat. They initially turned down the request as it might not be safe for the tourist to use it at night. The man became frustrated and insisted on taking the boat.

He offered to buy it for 1,000 US dollars and they agreed, said the women.

The suspect is the son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre and actress Silvia Bronchalo. A well-known chef in his home country, he also had a YouTube channel.

The victim operated a successful cosmetic surgery business in Monteria, Colombia, a large city in the northwest of the South American country.

The two were believed to have been involved in a relationship.

For the Thai football enthusiasts, Manchester United of the English Premier League and Buriram United of the Thai League 1, are their most favourite football teams in the 2013-24 season, according to a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.

The poll was carried out on July 13-19 in telephone interviews with 2,500 people aged 15 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes to compile their opinions on the upcoming 2023-24 season of the EPL and the Thai League 1.

As for the EPL, 61.52% of the respondents said they are followers of the league matches and 38.48% are not.

Of the followers (1,538), 84.72% follow the games occasionally and 15.28% are regular followers.

Asked to name their most favourite team in the EPL, Manchester United came first with 34.59%, followed by Liverpool with 31.79%, Chelsea 7.09%,  Manchester City 5.72%, Arsenal 5.27%, and 1.37% combined were for Newcastle United, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Bournley.

The rest, or 14.17%, do not favour any particular team.

As for the Thai League 1, 53.80% of the whole respondents said they are followers of the league matches and 46.20% are not.

Of the followers (1,345), 91.38% follow the games occasionally and 8.62% are regular followers.

Asked to name their most favourite team in the Thai League 1, Buriram United came first with 36.13%, followed by Port FC 12.49%, Muang Thong United 11.67%, BG Pathum United 4.46%, Chonburi FC 3.79%, Leo Chiangrai United 2.97%, Khon Kaen United FC 2.01%, Sukhothai FC 1.41%, and 3.88% combined are for True Bangkok United, Ratchaburi FC, Lamphun Warrior FC, Uthai Thani FC, PT Prachuap FC and Police Tero FC.

The rest, 21,19%, do not favour any team in particular.

NARATHIWAT: Authorities cordoned off the area around a car bomb explosion near a police base in Sungai Kolok district of this deep South province after an explosion on Saturday night. No casualties were reported.

The blast occurred at Orakan intersection near a railway track and the 9313 ad hoc police base at about 8pm.

The bomb was placed in a car that was parked in the rain at the intersection. The driver of the car hurriedly got out of the vehicle, jumped onto a motorcycle that was waiting beside the car and left the scene a few minutes before the blast.

After the explosion, authorities found debris of the car scattered around a radius of about 100 metres, including the vehicle’s licence plates.

Authorities closed off the area pending examination by a bomb squad and forensic police.

NARATHIWAT: Authorities closed a vicinity of a car bomb explosion near a police base in Sungai Kolok district pending examination after an explosion on Saturday night. No casualties were reported.

The explosion happened at Orakan intersection near a railway track and the 9313 ad hoc police base at about 8pm.

The bomb was placed in a car that was parked in the rain at the intersection. The driver of the car hurriedly got off the vehicle, rode a motorcycle that was waiting beside the car and left the scene a few minutes before the blast.

After the explosion, authorities found debris of the car in a radius of about 100 metres. Licence plates were among the debris.

Authorities closed the area pending a bomb squad and forensic police’s examination.

Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday he was postponing his return from self-exile because he needs a medical checkup first.

Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon, posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he needs a medical check up and would delay his return, originally planned for Aug 10, by a couple of weeks.

“I want to postpone the return date to Thailand from [Aug 10] until not more than two weeks. I will inform the date and time again. A doctor called me to undergo health check-ups.”

Shortly after learning of Thaksin’s postponed return to Thailand for health reasons, political activist and former politician Chuvit Kamolvisit yesterday posted on his Facebook page, urging Thaksin to find a better excuse for the pushing back his return.

Mr Chuvit said in his opinion Thaksin announcement was more likely related to the likelihood of a more sympathetic Pheu Thai-led coalition government having assumed power by then.

The Pheu Thai Party came second in the May election after the Move Forward Party (MFP). However, after failing to secure enough support from senators to see leader Pita Limjaroenrat take the premiership, Pheu Thai took the lead in trying to form a government without the MFP.

Pheu Thai was expected to nominate candidate Srettha Thavisin in the second vote to select the new premier on Friday, but the vote was postponed, pending a Constitutional Court decision on Aug 16 on whether Mr Pita’s renomination in the second parliamentary vote was constitutional. The party subsequently postponed an announcement about the formation of a new government.

Meanwhile, Sen Seree Suwanpanont said the uncertainty of the political situation may have influenced Thaksin’s decision not to return to the country just yet.

On Mr Srettha, Sen Seree said the senators will check his eligibility and question his stance on controversial topics including the lese majeste law and allegations against him of tax dodging.

On Thaksin’s 74th birthday on July 26, his daughter Paetongtarn “Ung Ing” Shinawatra, also a prime ministerial candidate of Pheu Thai, announced on Instagram that her father, who is widely believed to be Pheu Thai’s de facto leader, was set to arrive at Don Mueang airport on Aug 10. The fugitive former PM has been living in self-imposed exile since being overthrown by a military coup on Sept 19, 2006.