CHUMPHON — A Myanmar woman reputed to be a loan shark was found dead at the bottom of a gorge in Phato district on Wednesday after going missing six days ago, police said.
Photo by Amnart Thongdee
The body of the 50 year-old woman, identified only as Aye, was discovered by her relatives at the bottom of the 30-metre deep Huay Bon Gorge in Moo 5 village of tambon Phato in the morning. Her motorcycle was found on a gravel road in a palm oil plantation about one kilometre from where her body was discovered.
It took about one hour for rescuers to rappel down the steep gorge amid heavy rain and retrieve her body, which was sent to Surat Thani Hospital for an autopsy. Police said Aye, who was believed to have been dead for at least three days, was living with her Myanmar husband, Chaw, 35, in an unregistered house in a palm oil plantation in a nearby village. She was a lone shark and sold electrical appliances and clothes by installments to other Myanmar nationals in the area.
Mr Chaw said his wife was an outspoken person and called “Godmother Aye” by her debtors. On the morning of Oct 24, she told him she was going to sell goods and collect debts from clients and was not seen again. The family searched for her for several days until they found her body in the gorge and alerted the police.
Police could not yet conclude that Aye had been murdered and would await the results of the forensic examination.
They said the spot where Aye’s body was discovered is on the route illegal migrant workers use to evade police checkpoints.