Pictures courtesy of Khaosod 

 

A daughter has appealed for a thorough police investigation after her father was found dead in a sugarcane field in Nakhon Sawan province, with his body missing its head. The case has drawn attention due to conflicting views between authorities, who suggest a medical cause of death, and relatives and villagers who believe the man may have been murdered.

 

The body of the deceased, later identified as Mr Nanthachai, aged 55, was discovered in a sugarcane field in Mae Poen district. The corpse was found without a head, with the left arm severed, the lower body unclothed and wearing a green shirt. Nearby, officers recovered a tobacco pouch and the victim’s identification card, while forensic estimates indicated he had been dead for around four days.

 

Police later confirmed that the victim’s head had been found a day earlier, on 11 December, discarded in a bamboo grove approximately one kilometre from where the body was discovered. Pol Col Phanuphong Karakol, superintendent of Mae Poen police station, said preliminary investigations found no signs of assault or struggle at either location.

 

According to initial forensic examinations, there were no injuries consistent with violence. Initial autopsy results suggested circulatory system failure as the cause of death, leading police to believe the man may have suffered a sudden medical episode before dying in the field. Investigators also noted that the victim had a known medical condition and regularly consumed alcohol, with relatives stating that alcohol withdrawal could trigger epileptic seizures.

 

Authorities further suggested that the severe condition of the body could be explained by animal activity. Villagers who found the body reported a pack of dogs surrounding it, raising the possibility that animals dismembered the corpse and carried the head to another location.

 

Despite these findings, doubts remain within the community. Residents told reporters that the area is remote, accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles and rarely visited by anyone other than local farmers. Some villagers pointed to hair clumps, bloodstains and signs of incense burning near the scene, suggesting possible ritual activity or foul play.

 

The village headman, Mr Boonyuen Thaweep, said he could not rule out either murder or death from illness and stressed that final conclusions should await full forensic results from Sawan Pracharak Hospital. He acknowledged that unexplained deaths have occurred in the area before, though none with injuries of this nature.

 

Khoasod report that at the funeral temple, the victim’s 25-year-old daughter said she firmly believed her father had been murdered and urged police to examine every possible angle. A relative also revealed that the victim’s motorcycle had gone missing weeks earlier after a drinking incident and that a man who often drank with him had been reported to police as a possible person of interest.

 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• A 55-year-old man was found dead without his head in a sugarcane field in Mae Poen district, Nakhon Sawan.

• Police believe illness and animal activity may explain the death, citing preliminary autopsy results.

• The victim’s family and villagers suspect murder and are urging a more detailed investigation.

 

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 Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-12-15

 

 

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

According to initial forensic examinations, there were no injuries consistent with violence.

 

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Authorities further suggested that the severe condition of the body could be explained by animal activity.

Seems to me that modern forensic will not have a problem establishing such facts.

The OP does not specify if the head and limbs were cut off or chewed off. Clearly this would make the difference between murder and animals attacking the body. But to find the head 1 km from the body would suggest murder rather than some animal carrying the head away after chewing it off the body. 

Maybe just an accident.