Bangkok – A 41-year-old Chinese man has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok after the body of a 25-year-old transgender woman was found in a guesthouse room in Central Pattaya, Chonburi. Police say the suspect, after committing a gruesome murder, tried to escape the country but was caught at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
At around 11 am on 26 April, police from Pattaya City Police Station, forensic officers, doctors, and rescue workers went to a guesthouse in Soi Arunothai, Central Pattaya, after reports of a violent death.
They found the victim, who had undergone gender reassignment, lying on her back in a pool of blood in the bathroom. The body showed severe knife wounds, with the chest cut open and internal organs exposed. The heart had been removed and left next to the body, and one lung was missing.
A 61-year-old housekeeper said she heard an argument between the Chinese man and the victim around 2 am, followed by calls for help and the sound of items being smashed. After things went quiet, she waited until the morning to check the room, where she found the victim’s body.
The suspect had already fled.
The guesthouse manager, age 60, said the Chinese man, identified as Mr. Tongyung Fu, had checked in on 25 April for a week-long stay. CCTV showed him leaving the building with a suitcase early in the morning after the incident.
Bangkok Police are now checking whether the suspect and the victim knew each other and if the crime was planned. They are also working with immigration to track the suspect’s movements.
Later reports confirm that police arrested Mr. Tongyung Fu at Suvarnabhumi Airport as he tried to leave Thailand. He is now in custody in Bangkok and will be brought back to Pattaya for questioning and legal action.
