Sex offender admits murdering Brit teen who was found battered to death in Thai forest claiming 'drug deal went wrong'
10 May 2023, 09:53 | Updated: 10 May 2023, 09:55
A convicted sex offender has confessed to murdering a British teenage boy who was found battered to death in a Thai forest, police have said.
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Chaiwat Boongarin, a 44-year-old sex offender, claimed he hit 16-year-old Woramet Ben Taota with a stick when a drug deal went wrong, according to Thai police.
Boongarin claimed that Taota and his girlfriend, Suraphltchaya Khamsa, also 16, were involved in drug running for him, and the pair stole the drugs from him.
Police believe Boongarin lured Taota to the forest, where he allegedly beat him to death before Khamsa fled. Boongarin has previous convictions for sex crimes and is now in custody in the Mae Tha district, with officers expected to take him on a crime reconstruction later today.
Meanwhile, Khamsa has not been seen since Taota's body was found. Officers have found Ben's girlfriend, Yam, but are still searching for the second girl he was romantically involved with.
CCTV footage emerged showing the last sighting of Taota in his hometown of Lampang on Saturday, the day before his body was found. According to reports, Boongarin became very angry and hit the boy to death with a piece of wood because he believed Taota stole something and was lying.
Dual national Taota borrowed his mother's blue scooter and was seen riding with a girl on the back before he was found dead the next day in Lampang province on May 7. His body was later found in a grove, with injuries resembling blunt force.
Police are currently searching for a second girlfriend amid fears for her safety, and have ruled out Yam. Officers have also claimed to have seen Boongarin on a black Honda motorbike on Saturday night with a woman believed to be Khamsa.
Ben's grandmother, Lilian Graham, told The Sun that she believes he was persuaded to go to the forest where he was murdered. She said: 'Ben was with a girl and they went to the forest to meet a man. But something must have happened. And the man killed Ben. They don't know what has happened to the girl.'
Ben's father, Steven Graham, a businessman who runs a thatched property insurance firm, has flown to Thailand to speak to detectives there. The police believe the suspect is involved in drug dealing in the area, and have suggested that the teenager might have been robbed.
Ben's grandmother Lilian Graham told reporters that she believes he was persuaded to go to the forest where he was murdered.
Speaking from the family home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, Mrs Graham said: "Ben was with a girl and they went to the forest to meet a man. But something must have happened. And the man killed Ben. They don't know what has happened to the girl."
Mrs Graham added: "It's been a real shock. We are all devastated. Ben's father Steve is going to Thailand tonight. I wanted to go out there with him to support him. But he wouldn'tlet me. He said the flight was too long and it would be too upsetting."
