Apinat Plookpluem
Age 2421 Nov 2021
Ban Sang District, Prachin Buri (Thailand)
Throat cut
TDoR list ref: tgeu/tdor2022/21-Nov-2021/Apinat Plookpluem
Apinat's body was found floating in a pond. Her throat had been cut by a man she was seeing, and who subsequently confessed to killing her.
Police Captain Pannawit Boonchum of Ban Sang Police Station was notified on Thursday that a body was found near a pond in the Ban Sang District of the province by a 76-year-old man who had gone there to bathe his feet.
When Captain Pannawit arrived at the scene there was already a rescue service in attendance. The body had been retrieved from the water where it was earlier found lying face down and floating wearing a black T-Shirt. Police have identified the victim as 24-year-old Ms Apinat Plookpluem, a [trans woman] who lived in a village located in the sub-district of Bang Taen nearby.
The victim’s body is reported to have had a distinctive black Tantra tattoo on his back with five rows on the left-hand side while on the right there was a bird wing illustration. The deceased had suffered a sharp neck wound that appeared to have cut through the younger []woman’s] throat. Forensic experts estimated that the body had been in the pond for approximately three days.
Investigating police officers quickly established that the victim had previously been in contact with 26-year-old Worawat Chanthiam who resided in the Bang Nam Priao District of Chachoengsao province on the social network site Facebook. The suspect Mr Worawat was arrested by police on Thursday riding his red Honda motorcycle near his home and brought to Ban Sang Police Station.
Police have reported that he has confessed to the crime and is now being charged in connection with the killing. He said he had arranged the rendezvous with Ms Apinat, his transgender lover, at the bridge and explained to [her] that their relationship had to end. It was causing him severe difficulties at home with his wife. However, Apinat did not agree and refused to cut off all contact with the man. This had angered Mr Worawat who said he then drove his motorcycle back and forth until finally stopping. He had resolved to launch an attack on the [woman] with a sharp knife that he carried with him.
After the murder, police retrieved potential evidence at the scene including Ms Apinat’s mobile phone, shoes and the murder weapon which the killer dropped into the Bang Khanak canal. On Thursday, police brought the accused back to the scene to reenact the crime while police divers continued to work searching the pond where the body was found and the canal for evidence. Divers found the damaged smartphone underwater after being directed to the spot by the accused man.
Later, investigating reporters who contacted a friend of the deceased, discovered that he had, in the past, dated many people including other transgender partners he met on an online dating application.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=4972261359490552
