Police have apprehended three more suspects who, along with 'Art,' abducted the body of 'Top's manager' and burned it at an abandoned house in Rai Baikan. Authorities are actively pursuing one remaining suspect who is still at large.,
On 18 Mar 2026 GMT+7, reporters reported that a group of assailants abducted and killed Mr. Ruth Maneeprasert, known as 'Top,' aged 46, the manager of a medical equipment import and distribution company. He was taken from the parking area at the shrimp pond in Soi Ratchada 18, Huai Khwang district, Bangkok. After staging the abduction at the shrimp pond, the suspects headed toward Samut Prakan province. On 3 Mar, investigators found Mr. Ruth's body, reduced to a skeleton by fire, inside a bathroom at an abandoned house in Rai Baikan, Chai Badan district, Lopburi province. Police have issued arrest warrants for 10 suspects, including Mr. Srawi or Tan Rathpitakthirada, 46, the mastermind who hired eight others, all previously arrested. On 13 Mar, Laos authorities detained Second Lieutenant Phumeth or Art Ngernsaichai, 48, the abduction team leader, and coordinated with Thai police for his transfer back for prosecution. Four other accomplices helped Art burn the body; two had previously been issued arrest warrants.
Most recently, at 16:00, Police Lieutenant Colonel Athipong Sriphoh, an investigating officer from Sutthisan Police Station, went to the Phra Nakhon Nuea District Court to request arrest warrants for two additional suspects: Mr. Sorapong Soithamma, 40, a bodyguard, for whom the court approved arrest warrant number 115/2569 dated 18 Mar 2026 GMT+7, charging him with "conspiracy to clandestinely bury, conceal, move, or destroy a corpse or parts thereof to conceal the cause of death, and conspiracy without reasonable cause to damage, move, destroy, degrade, or render useless a corpse, parts of a corpse, ashes, or remains." The second suspect is an unidentified man, with a warrant issued under number 116/2569 dated 18 Mar 2026 GMT+7, on the same charges, as shown in the arrest warrant images.
Following the court's approval of the arrest warrants, Police Major General Chotiwat Luangwilai, Commander of the Metropolitan Police Division, ordered the joint investigative teams from the Metropolitan Police Bureau and Division 2 Investigations to apprehend three suspects: two previously wanted individuals and one unidentified man whose warrant was just issued. Only Mr. Sorapong Soithamma, 40, remains at large.
All four suspects, including Mr. Sorapong, are involved in assisting Second Lieutenant Phumeth Ngernsaichai, or Art, the abduction team leader previously arrested and sent to court, in burning the body of the deceased Mr. Ruth at the abandoned house in Rai Baikan, Chai Badan district, Lopburi province.
The three newly arrested suspects were handed over to investigators at Sutthisan Police Station for further legal proceedings.