Former Thai envoy to Denmark murdered by foreign national: police

He was speaking after the body of Vichit Chitvimarn, 63, was discovered at his three-storey residence in a luxury housing estate in Bangkok's Chatuchak district earlier that day.

The body was found covered with empty moving boxes in a toilet on the second floor. A forensic examination of the body revealed that he had been stabbed three times in the chest.

Police investigators have collected 15 pieces of evidence so far including the boxes and knives. They also found that the body was moved to the second floor.

Atthaphon said the suspect is a foreigner but refused to reveal the killer's nationality or how the suspect accessed the estate.

The suspect is on the loose in Thailand, he said, adding that the police are collecting evidence to request an arrest warrant. He also vowed to hunt down the suspect as soon as possible.

A source in the housing estate said Vichit had contacted Myanmar workers in the area to help arrange the furnishings in his new residence two weeks ago. The former ambassador also asked workers to clean his residence every two weeks, the source added.

According to the source, the issue of having Myanmar workers in the estate has been of concern to residents, who also slammed security guards for failing to hold workers’ identity documents while they were inside the estate.

At 8pm, Vichit's grandson arrived at the scene, saying that the former ambassador hired only male workers as his wife, who is overseas, had instructed him to avoid hiring female ones. He believed the killer had already fled Thailand.

Vichit Chitvimarn was a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official who retired on September 30, 2020. Over the course of his career, he served as deputy director-general of the Thailand International Cooperation Agency and as consul-general in Kunming, China and Osaka, Japan before assuming the roles of ambassador attached to the ministry and ambassador to Denmark.

Vichit was also a former adviser to the National Intelligence Agency.