Thailand's Daily Crime Pill #2: "Pretty" Deer on the loose, swindles tens of millions with bloody end
A beautiful scammer leads 60 year old man to suicide. Plus two horrific domestic abuse cases. Just another day in Land of Smiles.
Dear expats and readers,
I wanted to start this Crime Pill with some good news:
I’m happy to report that I’ve successfully put out two editions of this project in a row and on time. An achievement for the likes of me, I’d say.
Let’s get that number to 100 in a row before you reply with any congrats.
Actually, it’s true that the one thing I enjoy the most about doing True Crime Thailand is the engagement I get from readers.
My inbox is often littered with well-wishes, leads on stories, private photos of Singaporean drug dealers, corrections on past stories, and gems like this:
It’s letters like these that I love waking up to.
I was groggy and my fingers lacked even an ounce of wit as I clacked my keyboard in reply:
Did I handle it alright? Curious to hear your thoughts.
But no matter — my inbox was blessed with this gem from a new True Crime Thailand reader this morning, too.
I haven’t penned my reply yet — sometimes important matters will send me off to dwell on my response for days — but I thought I’d recognize this new reader and give a big kudos to his thoughtful addition to my piece on Si Ouey, which you can read here. And yes, I will make the additions to my piece.
This is all to say that I welcome any and all correspondence with my readers.
If it wasn’t for you all, I wouldn’t do any of this.
Now, let’s take a dose of that Crime Pill…
Feature Story
25 Year Old "Pretty" Lures Victims into Fake Online Businesses; One Man Killed Himself After 30 Million Baht in Losses
The 60 year old man resorted to suicide with a single gun shot after gradual losses of more than 30 million baht to a "Pretty" named Deer -- at least four other victims were swindled.
On April 26th, 2021, police found the body of Mr. Thanansak Samatanan, aged 60, in a room at a resort he owned in Nakhon Nayok. His wife, Mrs. Tanyaratsak Samutanan, told investigators that he suffered from depression and was stressed after a sour business deal.
The wife said Mr. Thanansak told her he was going to take a walk in the garden. He left the room and she heard a single gun shot. She went to see what happened and found her husband dead from the wound.
Police in Nakhon Nayok said that on April 22nd the deceased filed an official complaint against a woman who has been only identified as "Pretty" Na Deer. He told police that he had been defrauded of more than 30 million baht by Ms. Deer, who convinced the deceased to get involved into a business importing license plate frames from China.
Mr. Thanansak left a detailed suicide note naming Ms. Deer and what she had done to him.
The letter states that he started talking with Ms. Deer on January 14th, 2020 on Facebook Messenger. They continued to talk on Line and eventually met with each other several times.
Ms. Deer affectionately referred to the deceased as "darling" (ที่รัก , or tirak). She wanted a relationship but the deceased refused.
This wasn't the first time Ms. Deer had swindled others out of their hard-earned money. She owned an online clothing page and had been involved in a well-known fraud case.
The victim in the previous case, Ms. Chatsuda Smitiwantikul, aged 30, told reporters that she was scammed by Ms. Deer in 2018. Ms. Deer used similar tactics to scam Ms. Chatsuda, befriending her, winning her trust, meeting her for dinner, and eventually persuading her to cough up more than 600,000 baht for a business venture selling clothes online.
Ms. Deer stalled that business, too. She claimed that there were unforseen problems that prevented the delivery of the clothes and the victim never heard from her again.
The lawyer representing Ms. Chatsuda said that many others have contacted him claiming to be victims of Ms. Deer. The story is the same throughout: she lures them in, building trust online, meeting them offline, and persuades the marks to start an import business -- but it ends with Ms. Deer running off with the baht every time.
Ms. Deer had been sued and was ordered to repay more than 1.2 million baht to previous victims, of which she had paid back 300,000 baht. It's been almost two years since she has paid any more to the victims she scammed before.
Another victim, Mr. Golf, an alias, said that he lost around 1.7 million baht in mid-2019. That case is still going through the court.
Mr. Golf told reporters that Ms. Deer swindled him over a period of 6 months under the same pretense: using the funds to start up an import business, bringing in items from China.
Reporters tried to contact Ms. Deer about the suicide of Mr. Thanansak and the claims of other victims.
Ms. Deer's only words: "The money wasn't for investments," she said. "He gave me money more than 100 times. I have not asked for anything from him. I hope you understand."
Police are investigating each of the cases that have been brought to their attention by Ms. Deer's victims. It's unclear from the reports if she will face any legal consequences beyond fines for her actions.
Video of the victims and Ms. Deer:
My Take on Ms. Deer:
How many times did Mr. Thanansak meet up with our “Pretty” Ms. Deer?
She claims he gave her money more than 100 times — so that better have been some damn good action to add up to 30 million baht.
All that and the guy had a wife at home, to boot.
I hate to drag the guy’s name through the mud after the way he chose to go out. But that’s my own conscience speaking — the hounds in the Thai press have already been set loose on the story, tracking down “Pretty” Ms. Deer and digging up as many details as they can.
They even got their hands on crystal clear snaps of the suicide note, which ran 3 pages. How that landed in the laps of the press — well, for me that’s a whole story in itself.
As far as Ms. Deer, it’s clear she’s been swindling for years now.
Cases against her have only gone through civil court, and getting restitution has been a slog.
Why she hasn’t been brought to court on criminal charges is another question that perked up in my mind when looking into this story. That’s something that will probably follow the untimely death of Mr. Thanansak.
It’s the way of justice in Thailand, anyway. Big, emotional stories that hit the press get the Boys in Brown to take action.
It’s a theme I’ve noted time and time again. And it’s part of another story that’s to follow in this Crime Pill.
Story 2
Husband Stabs Wife to Death in Rayong; Friend Summons "Kuman Thong" Spirit to Track Down Killer
Police found Ms. Mi, 39 years old, dead from knife wounds to her stomach, a busted skull, a broken wrist, and bruised body. Blood covered her body and flies swarmed her corpse. A Buddha amulet laid by her side.
Forensics said she had been dead more than 8 hours.
The murder weapon? Likely a pair of old rusted scissors.
The husband, Mr. Wirat, 29 years old, had a habit of attacking his wife. Neighbors heard them quarrel often.
The couple were said to be homeless. They lived in a small flat together but the landlord kicked them out after the constant fighting. He just couldn't stand it.
The husband often stumbled around the village drunk.
A friend of the victim said that he will invoke the spirit of a Kuman Thong to help police hunt down the murderous husband.
A preliminary police investigation has attributed jealousy as the primary motive: Mr. Wirat consumed so much alcohol that he thought he saw his wife having sex with another man.
Video of the crime scene:
My Take on the murderous Mr. Wirat:
A truly nasty way to take out anybody, let alone one you call your wife.
And those scissors? Wielded by brutal hands — it’s not easy to kill somebody. Life drains slowly, even with the best of weapons.
It’s not like the movies. It takes a force and resolve to push across that line. And with a murder weapon like that, the actual act of killing itself would have been a grim scene to behold.
The couple took shelter away from the village in a makeshift hut. I’d reckon far enough away from the village that Ms. Mi’s cries during the attack landed without touching a single ear.
There’s something particularly grim about the photos of this story. I don’t know what it is — the substance abuse, the domestic abuse, the obvious suffering painted across the face of the victim even a year before her murder.
This is the sort of story that hits the news for the day, is forgotten the next, but haunts me for months if not years to come…
Story #3
New Lover Kicks Girlfriend's Head into Wall, Sends her to ICU
The perpetrator, Mr. Sahat Thamsopa, 31 years old, told police that jealousy drove him to throw his new girlfriend, Ms. Suchada, against the wall.
He kicked her head in and tossed her down the stairs.
After his fit of rage, he asked for somebody to call an ambulance.
The first responders found Mr. Sahat in a strange position: bowing over the victim's bloodied, unconscious body, and murmuring a Khmer black magic spell.
Mr. Sahat lied at first, claiming that it was all an accident. That Ms. Suchada fainted and fell. He said that there was no way he could have done that to her.
The victim's sister reported the attack to police, but there had been no progress on the case. Afraid that the story was going to go quiet, Ms. Suchada's sister went to the press.
The couple had been in a relationship for about 6 months. Ms. Suchada has two daughters and parents who are old and sick.
Ms. Suchada had emergency brain surgery due to the hemorrhage. She is in ICU now.
The report states that Ms. Suchada is in serious condition and there's a small chance of survival.
Video re-enactment of the attack:
My Take on the despicable Mr. Sahat:
Quite simply: there’s only one solution for scum like Mr. Sahat.
You can probably work it out yourself.
The real story here is that the victim’s sister had to go to the press to ensure that the story didn’t just disappear into the void of police case files.
As a foreigner, an outsider, the Thai press often strikes me as sensationalist, a never-ending tabloid.
But in a weird way, it can and does deliver justice to crime victims. Not in every case — I’d never claim such — but it does happen.
When I come across a story that has been brought to the press by a victim or their loved ones, I find myself with an obligation to share the story, too.
It may not do any good. Most of my audience are just foreigners here in Thailand and there are plenty of you abroad. We don’t have much power to move the hand of justice in the Land of Smiles.
But it’s my way of doing something. And I’m OK with that.
That’s all for today…
Until tomorrow’s Crime Pill, stay safe out there everybody.
- True Crime Thailand