Two foreigners nabbed after body of Taiwanese found bound in Bangkok hotel
BANGKOK – Thai police have arrested two suspects and are hunting for two more after a Taiwanese man was found dead in a Bangkok hotel.
The body of Mr Chu Chiang-shen, a 48-year-old Taiwanese national, was found with hands and feet bound in a hotel room in the Udomsuk area on Nov 16.
The police have arrested Myanmar national Zwe Lin Pyae, 21, and Cameroonian John Agbor, 40. Both have denied murdering Mr Chu.
Investigators said Zwe Lin Pyae was arrested in Ratchathewi district on Nov 16 after being spotted walking between his room on the fifth floor and the victim’s sixth-floor room on the night of Nov 15.
The police said he confessed to tying up and robbing Mr Chu with help from three accomplices but denied killing the victim.
Zwe Lin Pyae said he was hired to target Mr Chu by a Thai woman he met at a Thonburi coffee shop after answering her online advertisement.
The woman told him that the victim was wealthy and had a criminal record.
Zwe Lin Pyae then teamed up with Agbor and a Caucasian man to steal the victim’s assets, renting a room in the same hotel to monitor Mr Chu’s movements.
This surveillance continued until the night of Nov 15, when he and his two alleged accomplices entered Mr Chu’s room at around 1am local time.
The Caucasian man restrained Mr Chu while Zwe Lin Pyae bound him with tape and a belt. Agbor was responsible for keeping watch at the front door, the police said.
The three men then searched the room for valuables but found no money. They grabbed a laptop computer and a phone before fleeing.
Zwe Lin Pyae claimed the victim was still alive when they left. Agbor denied involvement in the crime, telling the police he works as a language teacher.
The police are still seeking the Caucasian suspect, who was caught on closed-circuit television footage but whose nationality is unknown, and the 34-year-old Thai woman from Ratchaburi whom Zwe Lin Pyae claimed had hired him. - THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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