Kamnan held on murder rap
A kamnan suspected of murdering two Thai workers in Japan nearly 20 years ago following a quarrel over a stolen vending machine has been arrested in Chiang Rai.
Bunyarit Chanthaphun was arrested by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police on Thursday at his home in tambon Ban Dai, where he serves as the tambon chief, or kamnan, in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province.
The 56-year-old was hired by three former Thai co-workers in Japan to kill Prayut Ngandi and Rati Duankhruea, police said.
The alleged killings took place on March 24, 1996 following a row between the victims and Saksamut Yangmang, Mangkon Sutthaduk and Chatri Khrueangsanuk.
The five were part of a gang that allegedly stole ¥1.5 million from a vending machine while they were working in Japan.
The two victims were thought to have later stolen the cash from their co-workers.
Japanese police allege Mr Bunyarit was paid ¥300,000 by the aggrieved co-workers to kill the victims.
Mr Bunyarit is accused of beating Prayut to death by banging his head against a drain.
He later attacked Rati and strangled her to death before dumping both bodies close to Kasumigaura Lake in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, police said. Mr Bunyarit strongly denied the killings. He told police he knew the two victims and admitted they had argued from time to time, but he insisted he had nothing to do with the murders.
According to investigators, Mr Bunyarit left Japan less than a month after the alleged murders and returned to his home province of Chiang Rai where he changed his name.
The suspect told police he was first elected as a kamnan in 1999. His arrest came a day after CSD investigators were granted an arrest warrant on Jan 13.
They had spent about six months searching for him after Japanese authorities sought help from Thai police in July last year.