Police have arrested a Chinese national who has reportedly confessed to strangling a 70-year-old cloth seller to death in Bangkok and robbing her.
The 29-year-old, identified as Wu Zhuoming, was nabbed yesterday as he was walking near a market on Koh Samui.
Police investigators tracked down from his mobile phone signal after identifying him as the murder suspect from security camera footage at a Bangkok condominium.
A search of Mr Wu’s room on the southern resort island found two gold necklaces weighing one-baht and two-baht, and the equivalent of 20,000 baht in cash. The valuables are believed to have belonged to the victim, Araya Sapsawan.
Police said the suspect admitted to police he killed Araya before making off with the necklaces and money.
He had known her for some time after ordering some batik cloth from her.
Mr Wu said he lured Araya to a condominium on Phahon Yothin 52 Road, where he killed her.
A hotel worker on Koh Samui said Mr Wu had been staying at the hotel since Jan 8. He left on Feb 6, saying he had some businesses to do in Surat Thani.
In other news, police have arrested Swedish national Jan Olof Norlander, 51, who fled a money laundering charge and came to Thailand. He was apprehended in Phetchabun’s Bung Sam Phan district.
Mr Norlander and compatriot Bo Karl Robin Lundholm are both wanted in Sweden on suspicion of laundering money earned through criminal activities, said Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, head of the Immigration Bureau.
They are believed to have swindled a total of 68 million krona, or 248 million baht, he said.
Mr Lundholm was caught in Bangkok back in November and deported.
Immigration police also recently arrested South Korean national Kim Yong-su for running an illegal online gambling site in Thailand, according to Pol Lt Gen Surachate.
