police are helping search for a Spaniard who is suspected of having fled the border in Surin, after he was implicated in the dismemberment of a compatriot.
Though police are not certain if Artur Segarra Princep, who may have little knowledge of border areas, has entered Cambodia, help from their Cambodian counterparts will make the search for the suspect easier, Thai Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn Prousoontorn said Sunday.
Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said he has asked his Cambodian counterpart Gen Sokphai to help look for Mr Segarra after his motorcycle was left abandoned near the Sombat border market in Surin's Kap Choeng district on Feb 6.
The motorcycle, with no licence plate, was found in a forest not far from the Chong Chom border checkpoint.
This suggests the suspect might have used a natural path into Cambodia, but "that's not easy," Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said. "Local people must help him if he is to escape that way."
Kap Choeng immigration police said they have found no evidence that Mr Segarra left Thailand legally via the checkpoint, which is now tightening inspections of people travelling between the two countries.
The last person who stayed with the 37-year-old suspect is his Thai girlfriend Pritsana Saen-ubon, who is now in police custody for questioning.
According to her accounts, she and Mr Segarra were in a karaoke bar together in Surin's Muang district, but he later sped away on his motorcycle when his photo appeared on the TV news.
During an interrogation on Saturday night, she told police her boyfriend probably killed David Bernat, a 40-year-old Spanish businessman, before parts of his body were found in the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok last Wednesday.
A source close to the investigation team revealed the 22-year-old woman and Mr Segarra mostly lived in a condo in the Rama 9 area in Bangkok, but on Jan 19, he asked her to stay elsewhere temporarily because his friend was about to visit him.
She suspected Bernat might have been killed that day.
Investigators are not convinced by her account. They have checked footage from a security camera at their place and found that both of them left the room, probably after the murder took place, according to the source.
However, the investigators believe Bernat was killed at the condominium before his body was dismembered and dumped into the river. Forensic experts are inspecting the condominium to look for any evidence of the killing.
Her male friend, another suspect who was questioned Sunday, is still being detained by police. He reportedly drove Mr Segarra in a pickup truck to withdraw money from an ATM in the Klong Toey area on Feb 1, said the Royal Thai Police Office's adviser Pol Gen Panya Mamen, who is leading the investigation. Police have not yet charged him with a crime.
The officers are checking footage near the ATM to gather more clues about Mr Segarra escape, he said.
