The Commander of Provincial Police Region 5 announced the arrest of a brutal brother-in-law who killed “Nong Praew,” a waitress. He disguised himself as a witness but ultimately yielded to the evidence, confessing that he intended to rape her. When the victim resisted, he strangled her with a wire but stopped upon noticing she was menstruating.
On 8 Mar 2026 at the third-floor conference room of Hang Dong Police Station, Hang Dong District, Chiang Mai Province, Pol. Lt. Gen. Kritthaphon Yisakorn, Commander of Provincial Police Region 5, together with Pol. Maj. Gen. Yutthana Kaenchan, Chief of Chiang Mai Provincial Police, and Pol. Col. Chakriyut Chotiwachirapong, Chief of Hang Dong Police Station, jointly held a press conference announcing the arrest of Phanuwat, 31, from Yang Kham Subdistrict, Nong Ruea District, Khon Kaen Province. He is the suspect in the murder of Yupa, or Nong Praew, 22, a waitress at a restaurant, who was found dead in a rental house in Hang Dong District, Chiang Mai.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Kritthaphon Yisakorn stated that the suspect was the boyfriend of Nong Praew’s cousin and had a high sex drive. He possessed videos and items for self-stimulation when aroused and, when with his girlfriend, would direct his impulses toward her. The suspect, originally from Khon Kaen, traveled to Chiang Mai with his mother to study and worked guarding an orchard for a retired senior police officer who has since passed away. He was paid 12,000 baht monthly to care for the longan orchard where the incident occurred and lived in a house on the orchard and another in Jed Yod area, Mueang District, Chiang Mai. His duties included cleaning, pruning, spraying herbicides, and termite prevention.
On 5 Mar, he sprayed termites at the orchard where the incident took place, and on 6 Mar, he planned to prune tree branches, leaving a saw at a nearby grocery and liquor store. Phanuwat stopped by the store to drink, then went to the orchard house. Overcome by sexual desire, he thought of Nong Praew, who was his girlfriend’s cousin, and went to her house. The door to her room was a sliding door without a lock. He entered and saw Nong Praew lying under a blanket. He quickly covered her with the blanket, not wanting her to know who had entered. She struggled and screamed, so he covered her mouth and pressed her neck to silence her. When she continued to resist, he used a hairpin wire to strangle her until she was silent. At that point, unaware she was dead, he removed her pants but stopped upon seeing she was wearing a sanitary pad and did not proceed further.
He then pretended that a thief had broken in and vandalized the doorknob of another house he owned on the orchard. He wiped the doorknobs with thinner to remove fingerprints. While attempting to flee, he encountered a delivery rider who had come to deliver items to Nong Praew at the front of the house. He took 200 baht from her purse to pay for the items. After the rider left, he disposed of Nong Praew’s hat and shoulder bag, thinking the morning garbage collection would remove them. Afterwards, he acted as if nothing had happened and returned to his home in Jed Yod.
Later, someone discovered Nong Praew’s body. Phanuwat came to the scene with his girlfriend and posed as a witness. However, authorities investigated three angles: rape, robbery-murder, and love affairs. Initially, they suspected Nong Praew’s ex-boyfriend, who had previously abused her, but he was cleared after cooperating and providing an alibi. Other suspects, including her new boyfriend, were also ruled out. During interrogation, Phanuwat’s behavior and timeline were suspicious, especially discrepancies regarding the delivery rider’s visit and his own whereabouts. Faced with overwhelming evidence, he confessed to the crime.
The Commander of Provincial Police Region 5 explained that the primary motive was sexual desire and an intent to rape, not robbery. Because Nong Praew resisted, he strangled her. He then tried to pose as a witness, but clear evidence forced him to confess. Authorities will continue to detain and interrogate him before proceeding with legal action.
Additional reports state that Nong Praew’s family and relatives, upon seeing Phanuwat being brought down from the press conference room, tried to approach him, but authorities controlled the situation. Everyone shouted at Phanuwat, “Why did you brutally kill her? How could you do that to Nong Praew?”
Nong Praew’s father said that after the suspect’s arrest, he was relieved that police had tracked him down. He wants to ask why the suspect did such a thing to his daughter and hopes the suspect will apologize to the victim’s body. He also urges the police to prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law.