A restaurant waiter from Cambodia is suspected of involvement in the death of a 16-year-old Thai girl whose decomposing body was found last Wednesday morning (December 19) in her apartment in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district.
A CCTV camera recorded the man, identified only as Chan, as the last person to be with the teenager at her room on December 17, when she apparently died.
Though there were signs of struggle in the apartment, the decomposed state of the victim’s body prevents the police from considering a murder charge as yet.
Chan worked at a restaurant behind Sopon Market, near another restaurant where the victim worked.
Two days after she failed to report for duty on December 17, a co-worker went looking for her and discovered the body.
Chan was arrested on December 22 and told police he and the girl had gone to her room to have sex, but she had a seizure and stopped breathing, so he fled.
He has initially been charged with recklessness causing death, hiding a body, taking a minor under 18 from a parent or guardian for a lewd act, and failing to assist another person whose life is in danger.
The last is a Criminal Code offence punishable by up to a month’s imprisonment, a fine of up to Bt1,000, or both.
Chan is also charged with illegally entering and staying in Thailand.
The investigation continues.
