Young man, living with his grandparents and from a broken family, flew into a rage when he discovered his older girlfriend had begun dating other men after recently getting a job at a nearby shopping mall in Phitsanulok.

A senior high school student in Northcentral Thailand’s Phitsanulok province has been charged with the murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend and the concealment of her body on February 26th last after charred remains were found at a rubber plantation in the Wang Thong district on Tuesday morning.

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Scenes from a rubber plantation in the Wang Thong area of Phitsanulok on Tuesday as police forensic teams examine the scene where charred remains were found earlier in the morning after 18-year-old ‘Meo’ confessed to murdering his 19-year-old girlfriend Jularat Kongkaew at Kaeng Sopha Police Station.

An 18-year-old Thai Mathayomsuksa 6 or senior high school year student was arrested by police in Phitsanulok province on Tuesday morning after he surrendered himself with relatives in connection with the death of his 19-year-old girlfriend with whom he was seen on February 26th last.

The 18-year-old, identified only by his nickname as ‘Meo’, admitted to police, who earlier on Tuesday morning discovered the cremated remains of 19-year-old Ms Jularat Kongkaew near a local rubber plantation, that he had strangled his girlfriend at his room, 6 km from the plantation not long after he picked her up at her home telling relatives he was taking her to a doctor’s appointment.

Young woman reported missing the day after leaving home with her boyfriend for a doctor’s appointment

The young woman was reported as missing by her parents and family to police at Kaeng Sopha Police Station on Saturday, February 27th, the day after she left with her boyfriend who later told relatives he had last seen his girlfriend at the local bus station.

At 7 am on Tuesday morning, after spending the last week searching for the young woman, police received a report that charred human remains had been found in a rock gully at a local plantation.

They quickly identified the sparse human collection of human bone fragments as that of Ms Jularat.

Hours later, the accused, accompanied by relatives, arrived at the police station.

Pair had a relationship for several years

The young man told officers the pair were boyfriend and girlfriend for several years but in recent times, their relationship had become strained even though the woman sometimes stayed at his grandparents’ home with him.

The young man, whose mother and father are separated, had been warned by relatives not to think of getting engaged to the young woman as he could not afford the ‘sin sod’ or dowry.

Matters became further complicated by the fact that the 19-year-old woman had found employment at a local shopping mall and had developed other romantic liaisons.

Mild-mannered and even-tempered killer

It is understood it was for this reason that the young man, Mr Meo, whose relatives on Tuesday described as mild and even-tempered, lost control of himself out of sexual jealousy and attacked his girlfriend in the couple’s bedroom.

He told officers that he had first pushed her on to the bed to restrain her but then jumped on her, grabbing her neck with his hands, in a fit of fury. He said he was overcome by rage.

He told police he had discovered that his girlfriend, Ms Jularat, was dating other men.

Took her wrapped body in a borrowed pickup truck with three tyres to a nearby rubber plantation

After he found the woman motionless and dead, he wrapped her in the bedclothes and sheets. He then retrieved a grey pickup truck owned by relatives in front of the property and nearby, located three used tyres.

He placed his covered girlfriend’s body and the tyres in the truck and drove to the rubber plantation. There, he placed the body in the tyres and began a fire with some fuel and a lighter.

Police handling the investigation, led by Inspector Wiral Patcharapongpakorn of Kaeng Sopha Police Station, have charged the man with intentional murder and the concealment of a corpse.

Mother shocked and saddened by daughter’s murder

The mother of the young woman, Ms Swee Gunna, told the press she had not seen her daughter since she went off with Mr Meo on February 26th last.

She had been anxious since the family had conducted a search near the bus station looking to find clues as to her daughter’s whereabouts after her boyfriend indicated that was where she was last seen on February 27th.

The news, on Tuesday, that she had been murdered by the young man had left her both shocked and saddened.

She said her thoughts were with the spirit of her daughter.

Grandparents seek bail for confessed killer

It is reported the grandparents of the young man, who are of limited means, are desperately trying to raise funds to have Mr Meo released on bail although police have confirmed he has already confessed to the murder of the young woman.

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