From Celebrity to Suspect: Little girl's murder divides opinion as fame and justice is on the line

[webfact]

Picture: Bangkok Business News

 

The death of a three year old girl in a remote part of north east Thailand last year could have just been another pointless and miserable tragedy - maybe solved quickly or maybe not.

 

But the death of Orawan "Nong Chompoo" Wongsricha was destined to become one of the most high profile cases in Thailand criminal history.

 

Not least of all as one of its major suspects - the murdered girl's own uncle - became a national celebrity with daily TV appearances and fame matching some of the country's most notable celebrities.

 

Picture: Bangkok Business News

 

But now the police investigation - utilizing some of the best experts in the field - has come to one conclusion. 

 

There is but one suspect left - and he is the man all Thais know as "Lung Phol" (pronounced phon) - or Chaiphol Wipha, aged 44. 

 

Picture: Bangkok Business News

 

Police went to arrest him in the Don Luang area of Mukdahan yesterday but he was not there. He later gave himself up to the authorities in Pathumwan, Bangkok and has been flown back to Isaan in a helicopter, reported Bangkok Business News. 

 

Essentially he is charged with murder though the three charges are depriving a child of her parents. abandoning her and causing her death and tampering with a body. 

 

The basic facts of the case are that on May 11th last year Nong Chompoo went missing. Her elder sibling Nong Sa-ing said she had just wandered off though this was thought to be impossible. 

 

Nong Chompoo's naked body was found three days later. The child had not been sexually assaulted. 

 

Suspicion fell on her uncle immediately though ten people were in the frame. 

 

Ultimately everyone had an alibi except him and inconsistencies in his evidence - especially what he told to a monk - increased suspicion. 

 

The victim's hair was found in his pick-up. He failed a lie detector test. It was claimed that he was intimidating witnesses of which there were several. 

 

All the while Lung Phol was carrying on in the media spotlight enjoying his fame, denying he had anything to do with his niece's disappearance. 

 

Now police have moved in and arrested their man. They say he took the little girl away and undressed her and left her to die. 

 

Though they are sure he did not sexually molest her they claim that he tried to mislead them as he claimed black magic rituals. 

 

Whether the police can prove their case remains to be seen. The court of public opinion in Thailand - swelled by a population obsessed with celebrity and online and TV activity - is likely to be divided. 

 

There will be no let-up in coverage  from channels like Amarin TV that have been accused of trivializing the case in a scramble for ratings with their nightly "revelations".

 

In fact the case will probably be played out with even more scrutiny as Lung Phol is paraded in court and his journey from obscurity to fame continues.

 

The question now will be is he destined for a life behind bars - or even more celebrity. 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-06-03

 

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[petermik]

If this guy is guilty give me a gun and I`ll sort it.....

[ikke1959]

he has high ranked friends because it looked like the Red Bull case....

[rcuthbert]

Vermin.

[Changoverandout]

Why don’t the police here wait until they have 100% irrefutable evidence before opening their mouths?

It seems they only have circumstantial evidence at best.

 If he’s proven to be the killer I hope he’s topped but so far they haven’t suggested any evidence apart from hair samples on him and in his car but he’s her uncle so nothing unusual.

 I hope they do better and catch the killer!!

 

[tandor]

...the prosecution don't mind at all revealing 99% of their case...i can see an acquittal coming.

[robblok]

2 hours ago, Changoverandout said:

Why don’t the police here wait until they have 100% irrefutable evidence before opening their mouths?

It seems they only have circumstantial evidence at best.

 If he’s proven to be the killer I hope he’s topped but so far they haven’t suggested any evidence apart from hair samples on him and in his car but he’s her uncle so nothing unusual.

 I hope they do better and catch the killer!!

 

There is not always 100% irrifutable evidence. But especially the thing he said to the monk makes him suspicious. He talked about her being missing before he could have known (unless he was the perpetrator).

 

But all DNA evidence is logical as he is a family member. So its normal for there to be DNA evidence. But if you combine it with the monk part and people testifying that they saw him in the area where the lil girl was found dead it points towards him.

[worgeordie]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

utilizing some of the best experts in the field -

Who , Where, why weren't they used in some other cases

where real police work would have found the real culprits 

regards worgeordie

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Ultimately everyone had an alibi except him and inconsistencies in his evidence - especially what he told to a monk - increased suspicion. 

 

The victim's hair was found in his pick-up. He failed a lie detector test. It was claimed that he was intimidating witnesses of which there were several. 

Looks like his luck just ran out.

[Thingamabob]

Based on what has been said so far I can't see any way he could be found guilty. 

[Golden Triangle]

Me & the Mrs were watching a TV report earlier this year and this guy was the centre of attention for the press etc, now I don't speak Thai except for the basics, so I asked the Mrs what was going on, she explained it to me, I told her then that he was guilty, I remembered the earlier media frenzy but didn't take too much notice at the time.

 

Flashback to 2002 and those 2 poor girls in Soham, Cambridgeshire, Ian Huntley was all over the media at the time, Mr nice guy, if I remember right he claimed to be the last person to see them alive, he was, it was him that murdered them, Basturd.

[Meat Pie 47]

12 hours ago, petermik said:

If this guy is guilty give me a gun and I`ll sort it.....

you like Thai prison?

[Golden Triangle]

53 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

you like Thai prison?

Your responses would carry more weight if you had brown sauce on that pie of yours, not bloody awful Tomato ketchup. ????????????

Edited June 3, 2021 by Golden Triangle

[Meat Pie 47]

22 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

Your responses would carry more weight if you had brown sauce on that pie of yours, not bloody awful Tomato ketchup. ????????????

Sorry in OZ we use tomato ketchup I am not a pom 

[Poet]

45 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Sorry in OZ we use tomato ketchup I am not a pom

Ignorance is no excuse.

[Bday Prang]

18 hours ago, petermik said:

If this guy is guilty give me a gun and I`ll sort it.....

sure you will Rambo !!!

[MartinL]

" ... know as "Lung Phol" (pronounced phon) ... ". 

 

Sorry to be pedantic considering the seriousness of this thread but, if the suspect's name is pronounced as 'phon' why not print it as such, instead of giving an explanation? Similarly with others; a English transliteration of Thai final จ is given as j rather than the t as pronounced.

 

[digger70]

Early in the investigation, Mr Chaiphol said that shortly after the girl went missing he drove his truck to pick up a monk at a local temple.

During the drive, he mentioned to the monk, who was later treated as a witness, that Nong Chompoo was nowhere to be found.

Investigators found this to be odd because news about Nong Chompoo's disappearance could not have reached Mr Chaiphol at the time of his conversation with the monk. 

 

If this is true they maybe able to find some more evidence , they Will Need it ,there's not much what they  got now. 

[faraday]

14 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

Flashback to 2002 and those 2 poor girls in Soham, Cambridgeshire, Ian Huntley was all over the media at the time, Mr nice guy, if I remember right he claimed to be the last person to see them alive, he was, it was him that murdered them, Basturd.

 Without diverting this thread, I can still see Huntley on TV saying that Jessica & Holly's disappearance:

 

"Beggars belief"

 

May he rot etc.

 

Back to the OP.

 

There seems to be a lot of conflicting 'evidence' which changes. I do wonder if the Police have been ordered to prosecute someone. 

[Andrew Dwyer]

On 6/3/2021 at 9:57 AM, webfact said:

 

The question now will be is he destined for a life behind bars - or even more celebrity. 

Good question  !

From what I see on various news channels last night, montages of him singing with and generally associating with “ superstars “, I think it likely to be the latter .

Of course it could also be the former as well !

Edited June 4, 2021 by Andrew Dwyer