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Published on November 27, 2007

Tomoko Kawashita, 27, was found dead at around 1pm on Sunday in a small jungle near Wat Saphan Hin. She was last seen at 7am on Sunday while renting a bicycle from a shop in Muang Kao urban area.

Her body had three stab wounds to the neck and one to the waist. Pol Colonel Somboon Tantrakool, a forensic expert, said there was evidence indicating "signs of sexual violation" but it would take another week for lab tests to confirm them.

Quoting witnesses, police said Kawashita checked into a guesthouse at around 10pm after arriving in the northern province at about 6pm on Saturday to join the festival at Sukhothai Historical Park.

Kawashita returned to the guesthouse at around 2am to move her luggage to an unknown location. She was seen next at 7am renting a bicycle from a shop known as "Rerng Phoolpherm".

Police questioned a group of six Thai male high school students seen with Kawashita while they were all entering the Park on Saturday evening. The questioning continued throughout Sunday night and the students were allowed to go home when police said they were not suspects.

Police later obtained video clips shot with the students' mobile-phone handsets to try to find clues to the murderer, but admitted it was difficult as many thousands of people had visited the site.

A police source, quoting private security personnel, said no vehicles or motorcycles had entered the Park, indicating the murderer could be a local, who possibly killed her between 9am and 10.30am on Sunday.

The site where Kawashita's body was found was an isolated spot, indicating the murderer could have been waiting in an ambush to rob her, or to rob and rape her, said the source.

Kom Chad Luek newspaper said Kawashita had about Bt3,000 in her pocket when her body was found. There is no immediate information about whether her camera she carried was found with the body.

Kawashita's body is now at the Police General Hospital for a detailed autopsy.

Sukhothai Police chief Maj-General Sirin Phadungchewit ordered a manhunt in the area.

"This is a priority case because it has damaged the reputation of Sukhothai and the entire country," he said.

Meanwhile, a Dutch man was stabbed late Sunday night in a robbery in Phuket.

Thomas De Clerk, 51, sustained two knife wounds to his left waist and his left hand in a struggle with the lone robber, who had earlier snatched a belt pack from him. De Clerk later chased and caught the robber and was trying to get his belongings back. His wife Maria Crozen, 45, was unharmed.

The robber was around 170-cm tall, and wore a baseball cap, a dark long-sleeved shirt and a pair of trousers, de Clerk said. The items stolen were a camera, some cosmetics and 20 euros.

The Nation