Big gambling debt leads man to suicide
A 42-year-old Bangkok man appeared to have committed suicide in Samut Songkhram by tying to a steel weight to his legs and jumping into the Mae Klong River over a football gambling debt worth hundreds of thousands of baht, said Muang Samut Songkhram superintendent Pol Colonel Chatpol Somkaew on Monday. The body of Theerayuth Song-ngerndee was found on Sunday afternoon in the river near the communi
Chatpol said Bang Khun Thien resident – who worked at a company manufacturing the kind of steel weight found tied to his feet – drove his sedan to Wat Pom Kaew in Mueang Samut Songkhram on Friday night. He then sent his girlfriend, who lives in the neighbourhood, a message that his car was at the temple and the car key was behind the licence plate. When she came out to meet him, she couldn’t find Theerayuth.
The CCTV footage probe found that he left the steel weight at a nearby pier before driving out to park his car and then walked back towards the pier. Police thus were convinced he committed suicide and the possible motive was a gambling debt, based on interviews with various witnesses, said Chatpol.
Theerayuth’s mother Amara Wong, 63, told the case investigator on Monday afternoon that she believed her son had a problem with his girlfriend of 10 years, which was in contrary to a previous report that he had quarrelled with his mother over a “personal matter”.
