A tourist is being investigated over the death of a Thai s£x worker who was found dead in his hotel room, the aged man insisted he did not notice her decaying corpse for four days.
Bearach Beataidh, 71, was reportedly seen kissing and holding hands with Duangta Khampongsom, 45, as he took her to his bedroom at a guest house in ‘Sin City’ Pattaya in eastern Thailand on December 18. She was never seen alive again.
Bearach, from County Down, Northern Ireland, was captured on CCTV emerging from the room looking nervous four days later on December 22.
Building caretaker Prayoon Chinsai, 57, called police later that morning when he noticed a foul odour coming from the room.
When he knocked and no one answered, he used a spare key to open the door – only to find the woman’s half-naked body rotting on the bed.
Officers arrived at the building and found the holidaymaker, who also holds an Irish passport issued in Ireland, at a nearby bar.
He said he was aware of the body but did not file a report with police as he claimed he ‘did not know she was dead’.
POLICE REPORT
Police Captain Puttharak Sonkhamhan of the Pattaya City Police Station said officers are questioning Bearach further over his statements.
He said: ‘The woman had been dead for at least three days. Her body had started to decay and bloat, giving off a foul smell throughout the room.
‘She was wearing only denim shorts and nothing on her top half. An inspection of the room found no signs of a struggle or ransacking.
‘It would be hard not to notice she was dead as her body was already decomposing. There was also fluid and blood on the bed.’
Cops searched for the British pensioner and found him at a bar along Jomtien Beach. He was said to have been dazed and confused when he was detained.
Bearach claimed he had invited Duangta, a prostitute from a nearby bar, to stay in his room after she was allegedly assaulted by an unknown attacker on December 18.
CCTV footage obtained by police shows the Duangta in a black shirt and white cap walking with the tourist along the hotel corridor on the evening of December 18.
Bearach was then seen on December 22 emerging alone from the room. He was captured checking both sides of the hallway before going on his beach walk.
He allegedly said: ‘She kept vomiting and sleeping the whole time, but I did not think it was anything abnormal. I understood that she felt weak and exhausted. We last spoke on December 19.’
Bearach claimed he did not realise she had died ‘because there was no unusual smell’ in the room. He denied hurting or killing the deceased.
