A French businesswoman named Catherine Delacote tragically passed away on Koh Samui, leaving behind an estimated 100 million baht worth of assets for her devoted Thai maid, Nutwalai Phupongta, who had served her for 17 years.
Nutwalai revealed that the assets included the villa where she resided, a two-rai land plot nearby, cash, a vehicle, and various other possessions. Catherine Delacote, aged 59, had owned five pool villas on the island where she lived independently after her divorce from her ex-husband, also a French national, who relocated to Koh Samui with her 12 years ago.
The circumstances of Delacote’s demise were tragic, as she was found deceased by a firearm in her villa. Law enforcement officials discovered her body near the swimming pool with apparent gunshot wounds on her left temple and wrist.
An automatic firearm, bullet shell, glass of vodka, sunglasses, and cigarettes were discovered near the body, alongside signs of a gunshot in the villa’s door. It was a pool maintenance worker who stumbled upon the scene and alerted the authorities upon discovering Delacote’s lifeless body and alarming pool of blood.
Before her passing, Delacote had transferred a sum of 500,000 baht to Nutwalai for her funeral expenses, indicating a thoughtful gesture towards her loyal maid. While Nutwalai suspected that her employer had taken her own life due to the messages she had sent prior to the incident, including her intention to leave her assets to the maid, she mentioned that Delacote had not mentioned anything about suicide despite revealing her battle with cancer.
The firearm found at the scene was acquired by Delacote following a burglary at the villa, as per Nutwalai’s account. A funeral service for Catherine Delacote is scheduled to take place at Wat Bo Pud in Samui district at a later date, as communicated by Nutwalai to the press.
