Thai suspects reportedly sought after body found dumped in well in border town of Poi Pet
PUBLISHED : 27 Oct 2023 at 17:16
SA KAEO: A black bag containing the body of a Thai casino worker was found dumped in a well in a rice field near the Cambodian border town of Poi Pet, police said on Friday.
Cambodian police believe Thai nationals were responsible for the man’s death, according to Pol Com Roong Thongmon, chief of immigration police in neighbouring Sa Kaeo province.
He said he was informed by Poi Pet police that the bag was found on Tuesday morning by local residents near Koup Thom village, about 30 kilometres from the Thai border. They reported it to Poi Pet police.
The villagers reportedly told police that the bag was brought on a motor-tricycle by two or three Thai-speaking men who dumped it into the well.
The witnesses said they opened the bag and found the body of a man, with no identifying documents. Poi Pet police subsequently took the body to Poi Pet Hospital.
Pol Col Roong and Pol Col Pattanachai Pamornpiboon, the Khlong Luek district police chief, crossed the border to examine the body on Wednesday. An investigation revealed that the body was that of a Thai man identified as Padungkiat, 31, from Chiang Saen district in Chiang Rai.
The man worked as an employee at a casino in Poi Pet.
On Thursday, police contacted the man’s family in Chiang Rai and the family said they would come to Poi Pet on Friday.
However, Thai police were subsequently informed by their Cambodian counterparts that the body would be cremated at a temple in Poi Pet on Thursday at 5pm and remains would be collected and sent to his relatives later. The family agreed.