Couple beaten to death inside resort
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Police have detained three Thai men for allegedly robbing and fatally beating a British man and his Thai wife in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Thap Sakae district yesterday.
According to the police, two of the detainees, Pongpitak Tapsawang, 29, and Prachak Muenjinda, 50, have confessed to robbing and murdering Michael Raymond, 68, and Suchada Baokhamdee, 52, at the Jack Beach Resort.
The suspects worked at the resort as security guard and cook respectively.
Though the third suspect, Jakkarin Yuyen, 30, denied the charges, police believe he had visited the resort to borrow money from Prachak before they decided to rob the couple.
The victims’ badly beaten bodies were found in the couple’s bungalow on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said it looked like the two had succumbed to their injuries and that their room was ransacked. The suspects confessed to taking Bt2,000, a mobile phone and an ATM card.
According to initial investigation, the couple had checked in on Monday. Raymond and Suchada had been married for two years and were living in Khon Kaen.
Prachuap Khiri Khan Governor Veera Sriwattanatrakul said the gruesome murder badly tarnished the province’s reputation and its tourism business, adding that resorts should be equipped with security cameras to ensure the safety of guests as well as help police in the case of crimes.
Meanwhile, Thawatchai Daengchum, president of Huay Yang Tambon Administrative Organisation, said the crime was shocking, especially since the beach area, which is home to several resorts, is popular for its serenity.
