Another Thai woman was recently found dead in a rented room in the Cambodian border town of Poipet, in what Cambodian authorities suspect to be a suicide.
The woman, identified as ‘Suthatip’, aged 28, was found dead in her rented room on November 3rd, two days before she was due to return to Thailand to visit her three-year-old daughter at home in Chachoengsao province.
Cambodian police report that they did not find any evidence to suggest that she was a victim of foul play. The relatives in Chachoengsao province suggested, however, that the victim might have committed suicide because she had reportedly been suffering from depression for a long time.
They also said that she recently suffered a further blow when all her savings, from her work in Poipet, had disappeared.
Her family and friends in Chachoengsao raised a fund of 140,000 baht to pay for an autopsy, conducted by forensic science officials in Phnom Penh, for preserving the remains and for their transport across the border into Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province, which altogether took about two weeks.
The victim’s body was sent back from Poipet through the border checkpoint at Klong Luek to Chachoengsao yesterday, for a funeral.
An official from a private organisation, dedicated to helping Thai workers abroad, said that the autopsy process in Cambodia normally takes a long time, because the process is conducted only in Phnom Penh and is also very costly and unaffordable to relatives of most victims.
As for the remains of another victim, a 26-year-old woman from Phang-nga province, who is suspected to have died from torture in Poipet, the official said her remains are under the care of the Thai consular office in Sihanoukville.
It is unknown when the remains will be sent back to Thailand, due to the high costs involved and documentation issues.
