DSI offers 2 million baht for info on murder of Japanese woman in Sukhothai 17 years ago

The DSI made this announcement after the parents of Tomoko Kawashita, then 27, returned to Thailand last week to follow up on the progress of the investigation into the murder of their daughter.

The woman’s body was found on November 25, 2007, in the Sukhothai Historical Park near Wat Saphan Hin with signs of assault and a slashed throat.

The DSI took over the case in 2013 after the investigation was stalled for years as local police were unable to identify any suspects.

Her parents, Yasuaki and Eiko Kawashita, accompanied by Japanese Embassy officials, paid a courtesy call to Justice Minister Thawee Sodsong on Thursday.

Also present were representatives from the DSI and other agencies, including the Rights and Liberties Protection Department and Litigation Division and Foreign Affairs Division of the Permanent Secretariat.

The case’s statute of limitations will expire on November 25, 2027, and the parents urged Thawee to exempt it from the statute like murder cases in Japan.

The minister promised to consult other relevant government agencies to see if related laws can be amended to allow the statute of limitations on murder cases to be extended.

He said Thai authorities have paid compensation to the victim’s parents in line with the law and that his ministry will further consider if the parents are entitled to further compensation from the government.

The DSI has collected DNA samples from 379 Thai men, but no matches were found. A Japanese tourist, who was reportedly seen with Kawashita around the time of her death, refused to provide a DNA sample and left the country.

In 2020, Thai authorities applied a more advanced DNA testing method to the sample found on the victim’s body and surmised that the suspect was not genetically Thai.