Officers at Mueang Nakhon Sri Thammarat Police Station were alerted to the incident at 9:10pm last night (Apr 22), after receiving a report that a woman had been found unconscious inside a room at the Nuan Khon Hotel in Tha Sak subdistrict.
Police, accompanied by a forensic doctor from Maharaj Nakhon Sri Thammarat Hospital and forensic officers, arrived to find the body of Kimyong Saisanasin, 31, from Ratsada, Phuket, lying on the bed in her hotel room.
She was dressed in long jeans and a pink long-sleeved shirt. An initial examination revealed injuries including bruising inside the mouth and blood marks on the face. Authorities said the injuries were consistent with suffocation caused by pressure applied to the mouth and nose.
The case has been classified as an assault resulting in death.
Investigators said the woman had checked into the hotel earlier that day, at about 11:50am, accompanied by a man later identified as Wittawat Pantharat, 51, from Wichit, Phuket. The man reportedly paid for the room.
According to witness statements from hotel staff, the man left the premises alone at about 8:56pm on a black Honda Scoopy motorcycle. Before leaving, he told staff that the woman had fainted in the room and asked them to call an ambulance.
Staff became suspicious and entered the room, where they discovered the woman’s body and alerted emergency services and police.
CCTV footage and payment records have been used to identify Wittawat as the prime suspect. He had not been apprehended as of the time of reporting.
Police are now gathering evidence to seek a court warrant for his arrest.
The incident was formally logged at 1:46am today (April 23). Investigations remain ongoing as officers work to locate the suspect and determine the full circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.