Skeleton found beneath a mosquito net stuns a Chiang Mai homebuyer after a foreclosed house is sold at auction. Police suspect missing owner Sriwan Sae Jiew, 93, as they trace her jailed son and probe now how the body remained undiscovered for years.
A homebuyer has uncovered a years-old death inside a foreclosed Chiang Mai house after lifting a mosquito net and finding a human skeleton on the bed. Police believe the remains may belong to former owner Sriwan Sae Jiew, 93, who vanished five or six years ago. Neighbours thought she had moved to relatives, while her son Prawet “Tee” Sae Jiew later ended up in prison in Tak. Yet the body remained inside as the house was seized by a bank, entered legal execution and went to public auction. New owner Phakakaew Chantharaporn bought it on August 6. Five weeks later, her inspection exposed the skeleton inside the shuttered former shop beside a busy community market.
A Chiang Mai homebuyer got a horrifying surprise after opening a mosquito net inside a foreclosed property. A dried human skeleton was lying on the bed underneath. Police believe the remains may be those of 93-year-old former owner Sriwan Sae Jiew. She vanished from neighbourhood life about five or six years ago. More remarkably, the house had already passed through bank seizure and legal execution. It had even been sold at public auction.
The grim discovery came at about 5 pm on September 15. Mae Ping Police Station received an urgent report from Tha Duea village in San Phi Suea. The community lies within Mueang Chiang Mai district. Officers were directed to an abandoned two-storey wooden house beside the Tha Duea community market. One report identifies it as house No. 96 in Moo 6.
Previously, the wooden building operated as a shop because of its busy market location. However, it had stood shuttered and neglected for several years. Furniture and personal possessions belonging to its previous occupants remained throughout the building. Indeed, much of the interior appeared untouched despite years of abandonment.
New owner opens mosquito net and finds skeleton as police trace missing 93-year-old and her jailed son
The new owner was inspecting the property before clearing its contents. During that inspection, attention turned to the downstairs area. A wooden chair or stool stood near a bed covered by an old mosquito net. When the net was opened, a dried human body was found lying underneath. By then, decomposition had reduced the remains largely to bone.
In response, the village headman contacted police and officers converged on the old shop. A forensic doctor from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital also attended. Police secured the scene before examining the downstairs room and collecting evidence. Afterwards, the remains were removed for detailed forensic examination.
Investigators quickly focused on Sriwan, the house’s elderly former owner. She previously lived there with her son, Prawet Sae Jiew. Locals knew him by his nickname, “Tee”. Sriwan was approximately 93 when neighbours last remembered seeing her. Residents said mother and son disappeared from everyday community life about five or six years ago.
At the time, neighbours had little reason to sound an alarm. They later heard that Sriwan had moved away following financial problems involving the property. Residents understood she had gone to live with children or relatives in Chiang Mai city. Consequently, the explanation appeared to account for her disappearance. Meanwhile, the old shop remained shuttered beside the market and gradually deteriorated.
Separately, police have established that Prawet is now imprisoned in Tak province. He previously shared the property with his elderly mother. His imprisonment has consequently become an important part of the police timeline. Reports surrounding the discovery have not disclosed his offence or sentence.
Police trace jailed son and relatives as forensic teams test skeleton found after Chiang Mai house sale
Investigators can now establish when Prawet last lived at the house and last saw Sriwan. They can also determine when he entered prison. Those dates could help narrow the period surrounding her disappearance. In parallel, police are tracing relatives who may have seen Sriwan after she vanished from neighbourhood life.
Forensic specialists face another crucial task. They must establish whether the skeletal remains are Sriwan’s. Her age, disappearance and connection with the property have made her the principal suspected identity. The cause of death is also under examination. Police have sent the remains for autopsy and formal identification.
On another front, the property’s journey through foreclosure provides a second timeline. Financial problems eventually led to the house being seized by a bank. It subsequently entered the Legal Execution Department’s foreclosure process. Eventually, local woman Phakakaew Chantharaporn bought the property at auction on August 6, 2026.
The sale came more than five weeks before the skeleton was discovered. Yet the house had not been emptied. Furniture and personal possessions belonging to the previous occupants remained inside. Most importantly, human remains were still lying on the downstairs bed beneath the mosquito net.
The new owner later returned to inspect and deal with those contents. That brought her back to the property on September 15. During the inspection, the mosquito net was opened and the skeleton was exposed. Consequently, the property immediately changed from a foreclosure purchase into a police scene.
Skeleton remained inside as foreclosed Chiang Mai house passed through legal execution and public auction
The remains had apparently stayed inside while the house moved through the foreclosure process. First came the bank seizure. Legal execution proceedings followed before the property finally went to public auction. Nevertheless, the old contents remained inside when ownership changed hands.
The location adds another striking element. The house stands beside a community fresh market rather than on an isolated rural plot. Local residents pass through the area every day. In particular, the market becomes crowded during morning trading as villagers arrive to buy fresh produce and other goods.
Despite that activity, nobody suspected human remains were inside the house. Residents said they had not noticed the smell of decomposition during the preceding years. Consequently, the closed property apparently triggered no alarm over a possible death.
That changed shortly before September 15. Some villagers reported detecting a foul smell about two or three days before the discovery. However, they could not determine where it came from. Soon afterwards, the new owner’s inspection uncovered the skeletal remains.
By contrast, the condition of the body suggested it had been there for a considerable period. The remains had dried and deteriorated largely to bone. As part of the investigation, forensic doctors will examine the bones and other material recovered from the scene. Police will compare those findings with Sriwan’s disappearance.
Skeleton on downstairs bed deepens mystery as police rebuild history of abandoned shop and former owner
The downstairs scene provides another important part of the investigation. The deceased was not found buried outside or concealed beneath the building. Instead, the body was lying on an ordinary bed beneath a mosquito net. Furniture and other possessions remained nearby inside an interior apparently abandoned years earlier.
Police examined the room carefully before removing the remains. Evidence recovered there will now be considered alongside forensic findings and witness accounts. At the same time, investigators are rebuilding the history of the old shop and its previous occupants.
Sriwan had lived there with Prawet while the property operated beside the local fresh market. Neighbours regularly saw the pair before both disappeared from community life. Afterwards, residents believed Sriwan had moved into Chiang Mai city. The house remained behind, closed and gradually deteriorating.
Later came the financial and legal proceedings. A bank seized the property before it moved into the Legal Execution Department system. The foreclosure process eventually brought the old shop to auction. By August 6, it had a new owner, although the former occupants’ possessions remained inside.
Five weeks later, clearing those contents exposed the skeleton.
Street View images track abandoned Chiang Mai house as police piece together owner’s five-year absence
Historical Google Street View images have since added another detail to the case. Internet users examined images showing the property during earlier years. Reportedly, 2011 imagery appears to show an elderly woman at the house. Later images show the building shuttered and apparently abandoned by around 2020.
Notably, that period broadly matches neighbours’ recollections. They remember Sriwan and Prawet disappearing from normal community life around five or six years ago. The images therefore provide a visual record of the property’s transition from occupied shop to abandoned building.
Police now have several timelines to bring together. One begins with Sriwan and her son living at the property. Another starts when neighbours stopped seeing them. A third follows the house through bank seizure, legal execution and eventual sale.
The forensic investigation provides the final and most important timeline. Specialists must determine whether the remains belong to Sriwan. They must also establish approximately when the person died and determine the cause of death.
Meanwhile, investigators can use Prawet’s prison records to establish another crucial date. He lived with Sriwan before disappearing from the neighbourhood and is now imprisoned in Tak. His account could therefore help establish his mother’s final known period at the house.
Neighbours believed 93-year-old had moved away as her shuttered Chiang Mai home slipped into foreclosure
Crucially, neighbours spent years believing Sriwan had simply left. They understood that relatives had taken the elderly woman into Chiang Mai city. That belief apparently removed any immediate concern over her disappearance. The closed house consequently became part of the neighbourhood landscape.
Shoppers continued visiting the market while residents regularly passed the building. Yet the old shop remained locked and deteriorating beside them. Inside, furniture and personal possessions belonging to the previous occupants remained where they had been left.
Then the property entered foreclosure. The bank seizure moved the house towards legal execution and eventual public auction. Phakakaew bought it on August 6. However, she acquired a building still containing the former occupants’ possessions.
The September inspection was therefore intended to deal with the contents. Instead, opening the mosquito net exposed a death potentially stretching back years. Police, the village headman and forensic specialists quickly converged on the property.
The remains were removed from the old shop and sent for examination. Detectives must now trace Sriwan’s final known movements and establish when Prawet stopped living with her. Alongside that work, forensic specialists must determine what the skeleton can reveal.
Police trace missing owner’s final years after skeleton is found beneath mosquito net in foreclosed home
The circumstances are stark. An elderly woman disappeared from a busy Chiang Mai community about five or six years ago. Neighbours believed she had moved to relatives. Her son later ended up imprisoned in Tak, while their old home stood abandoned.
Meanwhile, the property slipped into foreclosure. A bank seized it before the Legal Execution Department became involved. Eventually, the house went under the hammer and was sold to a new owner.
Yet nobody had discovered what was beneath the mosquito net.
Only after the new owner returned did the downstairs bed attract attention. When the net was opened, a dried human skeleton was found lying underneath. That discovery now places Sriwan at the centre of a police investigation years after neighbours last saw her.
Forensic tests may identify missing 93-year-old as police rebuild timeline from disappearance to auction
Forensic findings will now determine whether the deceased is the missing 93-year-old former owner. They may also establish when she died and what caused her death. In the meantime, Mae Ping police are rebuilding the lost years surrounding the old shop.
Their investigation stretches from Sriwan’s disappearance to her son’s imprisonment and the subsequent foreclosure. It also runs through the August 6 auction and the September 15 discovery.
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For years, residents believed the elderly homeowner had left Tha Duea to live with relatives. Instead, her old shop remained shuttered beside a busy market, still packed with possessions.
Furniture remained inside. Personal belongings remained scattered through the building. And beneath a mosquito net on a downstairs bed, human skeletal remains waited to be discovered.
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