Police have arrested a 31-year-old man from Khon Kaen for the murder of a 22-year-old woman in Chiang Mai after allegedly attempting to sexually assault her inside her rented home. The suspect, identified as Panuwat, reportedly strangled the victim, Praew, after she resisted his advances.
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The arrest was announced on 8 March 2026 at a press conference held on the third floor of Hang Dong Police Station in Chiang Mai. The briefing was led by Pol Lt Gen Kritthaphon Yeesakhon, Commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5, alongside Pol Maj Gen Yutthana Kaenjant and Pol Col Chakriya Chotivachiraphong, superintendent of Hang Dong police.
According to police, the suspect was the boyfriend of the victim’s cousin and had been living in Chiang Mai with his mother while working as a caretaker at a longan orchard once owned by a senior police officer who has since died. His duties included cleaning, maintaining the orchard, trimming branches and spraying pesticides, for which he received 12,000 baht per month.
Investigators said the suspect had visited the orchard on 5 March to spray termite chemicals and returned the following day to trim branches. After leaving a saw at a nearby grocery shop that also sold herbal alcohol, he reportedly stopped to drink before returning to the orchard.
Police said the suspect then developed sexual urges and decided to go to the victim’s house nearby. The sliding door to her bedroom had no lock, allowing him to enter while she was sleeping under a blanket.
He allegedly covered her with the blanket so she would not see his face, but the victim struggled and shouted. The suspect admitted grabbing her neck to silence her before using a hair straightener power cord to strangle her until she stopped moving.
Police said the suspect later removed his trousers intending to rape the victim, but stopped after noticing she was wearing a sanitary pad and bleeding due to menstruation. He then staged the scene to resemble a burglary and broke the door of another house on the property to support the false narrative.
Investigators said he used thinner to wipe surfaces in an attempt to remove fingerprints. While leaving, he encountered a delivery rider arriving at the victim’s home and used 200 baht taken from her bag to pay for the order before the rider departed.
The suspect later discarded the victim’s helmet and shoulder bag in rubbish, believing they would be collected the following morning. He then returned to his residence in the Jed Yod area of Chiang Mai and later returned to the scene pretending to be a witness when the body was discovered.
Police initially investigated several possibilities including sexual assault, robbery and personal disputes. Former and current partners of the victim were questioned but cleared after their timelines were verified.
Suspicion eventually focused on the suspect due to inconsistencies in his statements, particularly concerning the delivery rider’s arrival and his whereabouts at the time. Confronted with evidence, he confessed to the crime.
During the press briefing, Pol Lt Gen Kritthaphon said the motive was sexual in nature rather than robbery, describing the suspect as having unusually high sexual urges. The killing occurred after the victim resisted the attempted assault.
Family members and residents gathered outside the police station when the suspect was brought out following the press conference. Police had to intervene after some attempted to attack him while shouting accusations over the brutality of the crime.
The Daily News reported that the victim’s father said he was relieved police had arrested the suspect but wanted to know why his daughter had been killed. He also asked the suspect to apologise to his daughter’s body and called for the authorities to pursue the case to the fullest extent of the law. Police will continue questioning the suspect before forwarding the case to prosecutors for legal proceedings.
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Adapted by ASEAN Now Dailynews 9 Mar 2026