Thai police are searching for a Singaporean man last seen with his Thai girlfriend at a Bangkok condominium where she was later found deceased.
An initial investigation suggests he may be in Chiang Rai or possibly across the border in Myanmar, as stated by Pol Maj Gen Noppasin Poonsawat, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.
Two women reported to the Thong Lor police station on Wednesday that they had not heard from their friend, Praopilat Paladon, a 30-year-old from Khon Kaen province, since Monday evening.
They submitted a police complaint at the Marque building on Sukhumvit Soi 39 in Watthana district around 6 pm Wednesday. Upon accessing Praopilat’s 22nd-floor apartment, they found it unlocked with the air conditioning running.
Inside, Praopilat lay deceased on the bathroom floor, her upper body naked and covered with a blood-stained blanket and bedsheet, her head wrapped in a blood-soaked bathrobe.
The women disclosed to the police that Praopilat had a 32-year-old Singaporean boyfriend named Daniel and that she had voiced concerns about ongoing conflicts and abuse.
The pair had relocated to the condominium, leasing it for 170,000 baht a month, just two months prior. Immigration records revealed that the Singaporean had visited Thailand 31 times, typically for spans of 10-15 days.
However, this time he had stayed for a year, even though his visa had expired on May 28 of the previous year.
Building security footage captured the couple using the elevator at 6:42 pm Sunday to leave the premises. At 9:17 pm, the man returned with Praopilat to their apartment.
Since her birthday on Sunday, Praopilat had not left her room, and no one besides the couple had entered, according to Pol Maj Gen Noppasin Poonsawat.
CCTV footage showed the man returning to the building at 12:12 am Monday.
A call was made from Praopilat’s phone to her mother at 10:29 am, but it went unanswered. The mother returned the call at 10:35 am and received no response.
At that moment, it is believed the Singaporean man was in the apartment, though it is unclear who made the call, Pol Maj Gen Noppasin noted.
The man was observed leaving the apartment with his luggage at 3:15 pm Tuesday.
Two minutes later, he boarded a black Mercedes-Benz arranged via a ride-hailing service. Police later found that the car was registered to a deceased Thai man.
He visited a restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 41 before heading to a hotel on Phetchaburi Road, where he met two men and then departed in an Isuzu pickup truck bound for Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai.
Authorities in Chiang Rai and the neighboring town of Tachilek in Myanmar have been alerted to search for the man, Pol Maj Gen Noppasin said.
The victim’s mother, identified only as Ms. Pla, said over the phone on Thursday that she was traveling from Khon Kaen to Bangkok to claim her daughter’s body.
Ms. Pla explained that after receiving no replies to her calls since Monday, she requested her daughter’s friends to check on her.
Initially, the Singaporean man did not respond to her calls and later turned off his phone. Ms. Pla referred to him as her daughter’s “husband.”
Ms. Pla recounted that Praopilat met the man in Singapore, and they returned to Thailand together three years ago. He persuaded her to quit her job and promised to support her, traveling frequently between Bangkok and Singapore.
She acknowledged witnessing some of their disputes, although they were not violent.
Ms. Pla also mentioned that her daughter had shown her photos of bruises, attributing them to the Singaporean man. Praopilat had expressed fears that if she ever disappeared, it would be because of him.
