Police are hunting the killer of a mortician in Krabi after uncovering a particularly cruel method: the victim was struck on the head with a wooden stick inside a hut, then placed inside a 200-liter oil drum and transported 20 kilometers into the forest. Acid was also poured over the body in an effort to destroy evidence.
This case involves the murder and robbery of Sompong Songsang, 70, the mortician at Wat Paknam, Plai Phraya District, Krabi Province. The body was dumped in a forest beside the road between Khao Phanom and Ao Luk, near Ban Khao Kaeo, Village 8, Na Khao Subdistrict, Khao Phanom District, Krabi. The body remained undiscovered for three days until local residents found it before noon on 4 May.
On 5 May 2026, an investigative team led by Pol. Col. Phisanu Puangprom, Deputy Commander of the Investigation Police Region 8, and Pol. Col. Narong Laksanawimon, Chief of Plai Phraya Police Station, held a meeting to advance the case. The investigation was transferred from Khao Phanom Police Station to Plai Phraya Police Station because the crime scene where the victim was attacked and killed is believed to be the victim’s hut in a palm oil plantation in Village 4, Plai Phraya Subdistrict, before the body was moved to Khao Phanom jurisdiction.
Initially, the police focus on robbery as the motive. The suspect is a 34-year-old man from Narathiwat Province, who was the last person seen with the victim in the hut on the evening of 30 April. The estimated time of the crime ranges from 6 p.m. on 30 April to noon on 1 May, since the victim's friend came to the hut after noon on 1 May but found no trace of him, only signs of a struggle inside and around the hut.
Regarding the crime details, police suspect there may be more than one perpetrator because moving the body over 20 kilometers would be difficult alone. The victim was likely struck on the head with a stick or other blunt object, then placed inside a 200-liter plastic drum to transport the body without attracting attention. At the dump site, the perpetrators apparently poured acid used for processing latex over the body to accelerate decomposition. This explains why the victim’s skin on the hands and feet had deteriorated after 2–3 days. Police also found acid bottles at the discovery site.
On the evening of 3 May, a pickup truck crashed off the road at the body’s discovery site. The truck owner reported that the vehicle suddenly spun out of control for unknown reasons. Upon exiting, he detected a strong foul odor and then found the mortician’s body—the same mortician who had conducted his grandfather’s cremation. Locals believe the victim’s spirit may have wanted to indicate where his body lay.
The location where the body was dumped is remote, situated along a mountain pass route. Unless a vehicle stops there, no one would know a body is present. Historically, this area has been a dumping ground for victims’ bodies because it is not easily noticed by villagers. Based on police observations, it is believed that more than one person was involved and that the perpetrators carefully planned to conceal the body.