A Thai man, wanted by Taiwanese police in connection with the murder of a Thai couple there, has offered, through a go-between, to surrender to the Thai police.
Commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau Pol Lt-Gen Jiraphop Bhuridej said today (Thursday) that police have received a call from a person who claimed to be close to the wanted man, 35-year-old Santi Supa-apiradeepailin, saying that the suspect wants to turn himself in.
He said that the suspect, who also holds Taiwanese citizenship, surrenders or is caught, may not be sent to Taiwan but will be prosecuted and tried in Thailand instead, adding that Thai Interpol have been coordinating closely with their Taiwanese counterparts over the case.
Last week, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Bangkok asked the Thai police to arrest the suspect, for the alleged murder of a Thai couple. The dead woman was reported to be about five months pregnant with twins.
The bodies of the two victims were found in the trunk of their car, parked at a train station in the Taoyuan special municipality, in north-western Taiwan, on June 10th. Taiwanese police suspect the victims were beaten to death two days before their bodies were stuffed inside the car’s trunk.
Taiwanese police suspect a business conflict as a motive for the murder.
The Thai Criminal Court has already issued an arrest warrant for Santi.
A manhunt is underway in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces, involving police from the Bangkok-based Crime Suppression Division and officers from the northern provinces, after the suspect was reported to have been seen parking a car at a house in the Chai Prakan district of Chiang Mai, then leaving on a motorcycle with an unidentified man, who reportedly has connections with ethnic minority groups along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Thai police suspected Santi might have taken refuge in Myanmar.
