Eak Tomphet, 40, originally from Trang, was taken into custody by Highway Police at a checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan, more than 500km from Phuket, at about 5:30pm on Tuesday (July 2). (See story here.)
He was brought back to Phuket to face a charge of murder, Phuket City Police Chief Col Sompong Thiparpakul told a press conference held late yesterday afternoon.
Eak was wanted for strangling to death his ex-partner, 38-year-old Fonthip Chaikul, originally from Huai Yot in Trang. Her body was in a rented room apartment block in Rassada on Tuesday morning with a white nylon rope still tied around her neck. (See story here.)
The couple had been arguing about Eak taking their two children back to stay with family in Trang province.
Col Sompong said that at about 5am on Tuesday, after committing the murder, Eak drove out of Phuket to Nakhon Sri Thammarat, where he dropped the children off at their grandmother’s house in Kapang, in Thung Song District, before boarding a bus heading to Bangkok.
Police had manged to track his movements and informed Highway Police to be on the lookout for him, Col Prawit said.
Eak told police that he knew that Ms Fonthip was cheating on him by chatting with a man through Facebook, Col Prawit explained.
She had blocked Eak from seeing any of her posts, he said.
On Tuesday, Eak asked her to check her phone, but she refused to show him, leading to a fight.
Eak confessed to police that he choked Ms Fonthip in a fit of jealous rage her until she passed out. He then strangled her with the nylon rope to make sure that she was dead, Col Prawit said..
Eak had confessed to his mother that he felt regret for what he had done and said that he may not have the chance to take care of both his mother and children anymore, Col Prawit added.
“After boarding the bus to Bangkok, he thought that he would be caught on the way to the capital, which he was,” Col Prawit noted.
Col Prawit creited the arrest of Eak within 12 hours of the murder to good work and cooperation by a host of different police divisions and police stations, including Phuket City Police, the Phuket Provincial Police Investigation Division, investigation police at Huai Yot Police Station and at Ka Pang Police Station, as well as military officers, Highway Police and officers at Baan Map-Ammarit Police Station in Chumphon.
“As seen, if we cooperate well like in this case, we can close cases quickly,” Col Prawit said.