August 3 2006

British man murdered, burned & dismembered by Thai ex-wife's relatives

Bangkok prostitute, Pannada Laoruang, 38, and five of her male relatives and friends are currently standing trial for the murder of her wealthy British ex-husband, Toby Charnaud, in Thailand.

As his five year-old son looked on, the men bludgeoned Charnaud to death. They cooked his body like a pig-roast and then scattered his dismembered remains in a wildlife park.

It goes without saying that the Thai police refused to investigate so it was left to a private detective, hired by Charnaud's family, to piece together the evidence.

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At trial, three of the men admitted to murdering Charnaud, claiming that "he interrupted us while we were drinking whisky" but the real motive was the cash offered to them by his ex-wife - Â£2,700.

She stood to inherit a fortune through their son.

The trial is attracting little press coverage in Thailand but a full report can be found in Britain's Daily Telegraph:

www.telegraph.co.uk

In Thailand, Western men are often murdered in similar - though usually less gruesome - circumstances but Charnaud's case is unusual in that it was properly investigated and the perpetrators were brought to justice (See Would your Thai wife murder you for cash?).

Had she simply poisoned her ex-husband or claimed that he was involved in a road accident, Pannada would have stood a very good chance of getting away with it.

Wealthy readers contemplating marriage to a Thai prostitute from a vile family should bear in mind that their life expectancy might be reduced to that of an LA gang member.

A strange footnote to the case is a prize-winning short story written by Charnaud that seemed to predict his own death.

Rainfall by Toby Charnaud

Guy's fingers trembled as he lit yet another cigarette, the previous one still smouldering in the ashtray. His hands felt clammy and he was sweating, despite the chill blast from the air-conditioning. There was a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was the most terrible thing he had done in his life, and the waiting was the hardest part.

He walked across to the window and stared out at the cityscape in front of him. Bangkok, shrouded in cloud. The rain had started and soon it would close in, relentless and oppressive. It hard rained like that the night he had met her, nearly three years ago.

He had been trawling through the bars of Soi Cowboy with Greg, a good friend and an old Bangkok hand. They had been out in the street flirting with the "welcome" girls when the rain came, forcing them to take refuge on one of the bars.

It had been a standard go-go bar, and they had sat down on the bench seats around the outside and ordered a couple of beers. Half a dozen girls were dancing, their movements nothing more than going through the motions in time with the bland Thai pop music. One of the girls caught his eye. She was very petite, even for a Thai girl, with huge eyes. She smiled, a gorgeous lop-sided smile that lit up her whole face.

After her shift she came over, demurely holding out a dainty hand.

""Hello. My name Fon, may I sit down?"

He was taken with her politeness and her beauty. They laughed at the coincidence of her name and the random selection of the bar because of the rain, Fon being the Thai ward for rain. It was an omen and he was smitten.

He had spent the rest of that trip with her, and the next one, contrived just a couple of months later. He had heard all the stories of how a relationship with a bargirl was domed to fail. But those stories were not about Fon, she was different. Greg had tried to tell him that they all said that, "this one is different", but he ignored him, and it was too late now.

Outside the rain closed in, the visibility dropped, the grey skies pushing in from all sides. He checked his wallet, the tickets were there, but there were still a couple of hours to go. There was an empty bottle of Mekong whisky on the table, maybe the last he would ever drink. He considered going to buy another, but couldn't face braving the downpour, and suddenly the thought of the cheap sweet taste made him feel sick.

He had known it would be difficult to get a visa for Fon to come to England, so had used the opportunity to do what he had dreamed about, to take off to pastures new. He sold his modest share portfolio and rented out his house and moved to Bangkok . He knew he would have no trouble finding a teaching job, but Greg was able to find him work in IT, to which he was more suited and paid far better.

Which, as it turned out, was no bad thing, as the problems with Fon started almost immediately. Nothing too much to begin with, and mostly about money. Then there was the not coming back to the apartment when she said, or coming back drunk. They would fight, she would cry, and then would smile with that extraordinary lop-sided smile and look at him with those huge eyes and he would forgive her. Always. As she knew he would.

But it didn't get better. There were more problems and more fights. They made the decision to move out of Bangkok. They went to Hua Hin on the gulf coast a couple of hours south. They found a suitable business available, a small bar and restaurant. Fon would run it and it would provide her with her own source of income. There was enough IT work available for Guy even in a town like Hua Hin. It seemed like the ideal solution.

Instead things soon got worse. It wasn't just the money, that was still as bad as ever, despite the business appearing to do well, but the lies started. Again they would fight and again she would cry and he would feel guilty.

He wanted to walk away, but couldn't, and her eyes would do their magic and he would take her into his arms.

Then came the stories of other men, customers in her bar, an old boyfriend from her Cowboy days. He couldn't believe them and tried to ignore them, but on top of everything else it was too much. This time when he confronted her she became angry and denied everything. He believer her, he had to, he loved her too much and this time it had been his turn to back down and apologise.

While they lived in Hua Hin he got to know Boy. Boy was a tuk-tuk driver, a regular Thai guy. They would play pool together and talk football, and they became good friends. People told him that you shouldn't trust a Thai man, but Boy would never ask for money or accept any favours. He introduced him to his brother, Daeng. Daeng was a cop, not high ranking but with influence. He didn't have the same charm as Boy, and was always sponging drinks and chatting up the girls in the bar, who were very wary with him. However, he was a useful contact to have.

Then it happened. He caught Fon. He had gone to Bangkok to pick up some computer parts and had planned to have a night out with Greg, but Greg had been sick so he returned that evening. Fon was in a bed with this guy, a Dane, a regular customer in the bar. He didn't wait, he didn't want to hear. He left and three days later was back in England.

As soon as he arrived he started to miss Thailand, the food, the climate, the lifestyle. And he missed Fon. She called him constantly saying how sorry she was, what a mistake she had made, how she would never do it again, how much she loved him and how different it would be when he came back.

He held out for a short while, but he couldn't put her behind him. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that funny smile and those lovely, lovely eyes.

He went back. It got worse. He could not stop loving her, but she lied more and more, she cheated more and more. It was as if knew that by getting him back she had won. The though of leaving again, or just leaving her at all broke him up but he knew that if he stayed it would destroy him.

Then it came to him. There was a way of dealing with this Thai-style. He spoke to Boy. Boy said he knew how to deal with it.

It was Boy he was waiting for now. It was too late to stop what he had put in motion, and although he had huge misgivings he was desperate and knew it was the only thing that he could do.

Beside the television there was a manila envelope. He opened it and counted the money again. 60,000 Baht. He had already paid 20,000 baht with the rest to be handed over when the job was done. Having paid for his airline tickets it was all the money he had left. He had been concerned about what would happen to Boy, but Daeng would take care of that. Perhaps he would have to spend a couple of months as a monk in a forest wat, but the disappearance of an Isaan peasant's daughter in a distant town would hardly be investigated and would soon be forgotten.

He looked out of the window. The rain had eased and the skies were lifting. Soon the sun would come out again. He stubbed out the cigarette and lit another one. Already he began to feel better.

There was a knock on the door. Peering through the spyhole he saw Boy. He looked relaxed; he hardly even looked wet. He opened the door to let him in.

Boy looked at him, his gaze steady.

"Finish" was all he said.

The heavy feeling in his stomach moved up to his heart and his eyes blurred. For the first time it was not just guilt or regret he felt but real remorse. He couldn't look at Boy and turned away to pick up the money.

"60,000." He paused, "I must go now Boy."

Boy nodded as he took the cash.

"Take a good journey, my friend, "he said."

Guy forced himself to look up. His eyes widened with shock as he saw the gun pointing at him. He didn't understand, couldn't take in what he saw. His last thought, bizarrely, was that the silencer was as big as the gun.

The girl slipped into the room. She was tiny with large brown eyes. She looked at the body on the floor, then at the man slipping the gun back into the waistband of his jeans. The expression on her face was of regret, sorrow and bewilderment. It passed quickly and she turned to Boy.

"Come on, tilac, let's go," he said.

She gave him a quick lop-sided smile and took his hand as they left the room.

[Posted to News by David]

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Readers' comments

Yadom says:

I would not say it isnâ€™t a tragedy, and a particularly nasty one, but there is probably more to the story than a sterling ex-pat and a villainous Issan girl. The first sign that our farang protagonist is not on top of his game is that fact that he married, had a child, and started business with a bar girl. Granted, when some slinky go-go dancers climb down from the stage and climb onto your lap they can be charming little minxes so there is some sympathy there. Yet the clincher is his â€˜predictedâ€™ short story death. Isnâ€™t our tragic hero writing directly from the sordid events of his life and talking about having his wife murdered? Grant, once again, many people my have imagined having someone killed â€“ I am currently thinking of a co-worker that might have to meet with a tragic â€˜accidentâ€™. But our ex-pat seems to have been deeply mired in some questionable actions and mixing with some rather unsavoury company for more that just a â€˜short timeâ€™.

August 3, 2006 7:02 PM

Anonymous says:

isaan girls are a different breed, avoid them. i know some who never worked in a bar, still not civil - something crazy about them. Better to stick with born and bred bangkok girls with a bit of pedigree

August 3, 2006 9:34 PM

Chuck says:

I met Toby in 03. He seemed like a very nice guy...maybe too nice. I'm sure he heard all the stories about how things can go wrong. And he probably had a lot of time to think. The story is uncanny but not unusual. What's really strange is that he actually wrote it down and put it on the net. My guess is he was probably trying to work things out via the fiction process.

August 3, 2006 10:23 PM

Mr Thaksin, bangkokchat.org says:

Do you all know Thailand one of the highest Gun murder rate countries in the world after South Africa.

Never be fooled by those warm friendly smiles.
They do that very same smile when having a hot poker shoved up their jacks as receiving Baht filled gifts from farrang Bufalo's.

You've been warned

Thako.

August 3, 2006 10:40 PM

Coldweasel Quintus says:

Anyone who marries a bar girl is a total lunatic.

There was a similar story to this recently in the British press, where a 70-year-old fellow from Devon had married a 24-year-old Gambian girl, and had also been slain for his money.

I'm shocked that so many otherwise intelligent men, who have built up businesses and made themselves wealthy, with not a need in the world, would commit such an error of judgement in this part of their lives.

It's too much to say that this poor sod deserved to be murdered - of course he didn't. But anyone who involves himself to this degree with someone from this section of society, whether Thai, Gambian or otherwise, is dicing with some sort of tragedy.

August 3, 2006 10:47 PM

Bose says:

What is so crazy about Isaan girls and great about bangkok girls? Whether a bargirl or a middle class educated lady, dont they both smile and lie in the same way? They will eventually kill the man in you in some way or the other, whether you are a Thai or a farang or a Khaeg... the best examples are Thai "men" themselves.

August 4, 2006 3:44 AM

bangkokram says:

"It goes without saying that the Thai police refused to investigate so it was left to a private detective"

A criminal investigation, you've got to be kidding! Just think of how many Pick Ups would get off scot free whilst you investigate the death of a Farang.

August 4, 2006 5:48 AM

Andy says:

Interesting that his prize-winning story turned out as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You don't have actual "children" with vile, neanderthal cunts like her. - Your kids turn out to be just bargaining chips and emotional blackmail tools to extract cold, hard cash.
No doubt her and her family of cave-dwelling savages will walk from court, or at least be released when people have forgotten what they did. The median attention span of locals here seems to be less than of an autistic goldfish.
It would be a mistake to just dismiss the guy as a misguided farang "buffalo", as we've all been a bit green and naive on a first arrival, nevermind how much of a jaded expat one might be. The fact is no-one deserves a fate like that; being clumsily beaten to death by a bunch of prehistoric simian fuckwits... And we're all 'farang' to this people, ie; an ethnic minority that is descriminated against, to a certain extent; by a largely uneducated, largely friendly, but xenophobic host country.
A bit of unity on this one might be nice?

August 4, 2006 8:21 AM

matt says:

hindesight thats great you never know the deal at the present moment.feel sorry for the guy r.i.p

August 4, 2006 9:44 AM

Dana says:

An upsetting story but not the whole story in the Thai cesspit. Ready for this? Thai police frequently catch the criminals/murderers/etc. They always confess. But how much time do they do? This part of the story always seems a little like tracking misbehaving nuns. Just about impossible.

August 4, 2006 10:37 AM

Thaihome says:

This is certainly a tragedy and should be a lesson to any westerner contemplating marriage to a third world woman whom he meet in the crime ridden environment that prostitution is associated with in virtually the entire world. This would be comparable to a middle class bloke marry a prostitute he meet working Crenshaw Blvd in South Central LA and then living there with her and her family and friends. Not something a rational person would consider.
It is unfortunate that you choose to make the statement:
"In Thailand, Western men are often murdered in similar - though usually less gruesome - circumstances..."
This is the worst sort of sensationalism. Often murdered in Thailand? Are husband murdered more in Thailand then in other countries? Is this indeed a serious risk when married to a Thai woman?
It would seem to me that being murdered by your Thai wife in Thailand is the exception, not the rule you make it out to be.
I guess you are just interested in creating a entertaining web site and these type of articles are easier to write then your usual more witty submissions.
TH

August 4, 2006 11:45 AM

me says:

Coldweasel Quintus said "I'm shocked that so many otherwise intelligent men, who have built up businesses and made themselves wealthy, with not a need in the world"

Wrong. There is one thing most of those people do not have in their lives: love. Money can't buy real love.

Looking for it on Soi Cowboy or at NPE - that is of course another story...

August 4, 2006 12:21 PM

Ian says:

When I first went to Thailand I thought: What a wonderful place. The people are charming and there seems to be hardly any crime.

Unlike in the UK, you feel perfectly safe using an ATM machine in Thailand, whereas in the UK, I find myself peering about to see who may be watching or loitering.

But all is not as it seems. I have now read about at least a dozen cases of murder. The plot is mostly the same.

A middle aged westerner falls head over with a thai girl, and then gets murdered by her and her accomplacies.

I'm thinking of shagging western women again, it would make quite a change.

On the plus side, I would stand to only lose my savings, pension, sanity, isa's and my house, and not all of the above plus my life.

August 4, 2006 3:16 PM

phil H says:

A tragedy for sure with more than a few buts.

As Yadom points out there is more to this one than meets the eye. I detect a guilt trip in the story and maybe he had tried implementing a little Thai justice and got caught out.

I tend to agree with Thaihome, murders of farangs are rare in LOS and usually it happens because the invisible line has been crossed, face lost etc. Whatever it was he done it was more than disturbing a drinking session.

The way it was done seems to indicate that the Thai family wanted this to be high profile. Otherwise why not just kill him and lose the body, easy done with the right connections.

Anyway, as with all purchases caveat emptor applies equally to carry outs from bars.

August 4, 2006 3:23 PM

wulfman says:

It's a gruesome but fascinating story.Any guy sitting at a bar now must be thinking, don't get involved here! And that would be absolutely right.
Why did he go to her Issaan home alone? How did he go there?
His killing sounds like an absolute comedy of errors, and then fed to the tigers.
Even he could not write that story.

August 4, 2006 7:04 PM

Anonymous says:

if only someone had some real figures, i have only spent 6 months in Thailand, in that time a farang on the same floor as me staying at lumpini park view was knifed to death. it was on the thai news once, the girl done a runner and i never did find out what happened to her - despite googling for an hour

August 4, 2006 7:26 PM

Mr Thaky, from bangerschat.org says:

philH and thaihome, slightly nice but liberally dim.
l think either one of these naive wonkers probably next on the victims of thai's menu.
LOS's has one of the highest gun murder rates in the world after SA.
FACT.
Another case of middle class white guilt l suspect from this pair of wonkers.

Thako.

August 4, 2006 8:09 PM

daniel says:

well i met a nice issan girl who worked in a bank in bangkok but i met girls who are neighbours of hers and im pretty sure they would do the same thing, most of them however have already ripped off thier farang partners anyway so they dont need to but dont get me started on the men from the village, they would kill you just for the fun of it, well at least 10.000 baht worth of fun anyway. however i had a cunning ploy......which involved letting anyone know in the village that i had no money anyway, so now they just ignore me, which i find a good thing, and even my girlfriend doesnt know how much im really worth. so silly farangs dont give your girlfriends your atm cards etc or you might just find yourselfs enjoying a spit-roast where you become the nights entertainment.

chock dee!

August 4, 2006 8:13 PM

moss says:

Too bad, the picture of this guy`looks happy, his little tyke looks like him, the future's so bright...

And Jealousy, telegraphing it all, no matter what, will always get you in the end. She did the only thing she could do...

An Issan girl living by her intuitive skills, yes, what else is there?

August 5, 2006 7:22 AM

philH says:

And this week's missing the point award goes to..........Thako!

I wasn't saying that LOS is the safest place on earth nor that there was no gun crime. As you so eloquently point out guns are an integral part of the Thai macho image. Forget knives, baseball bats etc if you aren't tooled up you are not on the street.

What I was saying is that murder of farangs in Thailand is relatively rare, but on the rise I admit. Even so, for a farang to get himself slotted he needs to have seriously overstepped the mark. You don't get shot, or even beaten to a pulp, for spilling someone's lao khaow. As for the recent event in Kanchanaburi (?) the girls were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, can happen anywhere.

No, LOS is nowhere near the Philippines where you have cages outside supermarkets "Please deposit your firearms here". However the most guns on show award, in my experience, goes to Venezuela but most of those were carried by men in uniform which made it scarier. Haven't made it to SA yet so can't comment but from what I've heard I'm not itching to go.

I am also not up to date with world crime stats but I still maintain, provided you watch your step, LOS is safe enough.

August 5, 2006 9:24 AM

Mr Thaksin, bangkokchat.org says:

remember first time in flippersville {Manila} went upto burger place entrance and 2 kind gentleman both holding pump shotguns kindly opened doors for me.
on leaving l smiled and looked straight ahead and focused on thinking about QPR.

August 5, 2006 4:35 PM

Jack Howitzer says:

Yeah, Angeles City is like that. The hotel bellboy had a Colt Python hanging from his belt.

Halfway between Angeles and Subic the army had set up a kidnapping checkpoint where guys with M16s searched your vehicle to make sure there was nobody trussed up in the boot.

The Philippines is not for the faint hearted.

August 5, 2006 8:38 PM

mickyfin says:

Its a pity that this kind of thing goes on,a young boy will be denied his father,and probebly his mother through no fault of his own.Its a shame though that a lot of farang men looking for love cant get out of pat pong,nana,soi cowboy etc,and go to some nice thai place where you can meet a normal girl with a normal job and nice family,admittedly if you are new to thailand,this could be difficult while your learning the culture,language how to get about etc,but it really is worth the wait,there are a lot of nice girls with good families out there looking for love,all im saying is dont rush in and end up with someone like the woman who killed her husband.

August 6, 2006 5:21 AM

tracy emin says:

Easy said, mickyfin : we all think 'our one is different'.

August 7, 2006 1:39 AM

Thaihome says:

Mr. Thaky has completely missed the point. It is possible to be married to a Thai woman [of Issan origin] and live in Thailand without being at risk of being murdered. The US also has a very high gun murder rate, but in the 40 something years I lived there I never saw a single one nor even had anyone I was related to or even knew murdered. This is because I lived in normal middle class areas in which murders were very rare. But it is an unfortunate fact that In nearby ghettos they were all too common. But these were areas I did not frequent, just has in Thailand, there are areas I donâ€™t frequent and certain types of people that are best to avoid. I really donâ€™t mean to try and blame the victims, but in virtually every murder of these types that I have read about, the victim put himself into a high risk situation and one he would not have gone into in his home country.
As I said, it baffles me that people seem to think that desperately poor people that will do practically anything for money are some how unique to Thailand. I suspect this is because they are so insulated from similar people in their own countries and have no idea what such people are capable of. I again go back to my analogy of the white middle class gentleman going live with a South Central whore, something he would never even consider. But he comes to Thailand and meets people of similar ilk and his astounded when they proceed to seriously abuse him, up to and including inviting him to a BarBQ.
TH

August 7, 2006 9:04 AM

mickyfin says:

The thing is,you can meet girls from normal thai society,i know people in uk now who have big problems with the girls they met in nana,pattaya,but also some who are really happy,i also know people who know thailand well,like myself and have married girls who live and work in bkk and come from nice familys who dont need or demand money from their daughters,there are some good and some bad,unfortunatly they all get tarred with the same brush,i dont think everyone thinks that their girl is different,friends i know tell me they know the kind of girl they married,but dont know how to get out and about to meet normal thai girls,in either case though,nobody should just assume that they know someone,ie just because she is thai that they must have worked the bar,you have to treat everyone as an individual.

August 7, 2006 5:47 PM

Dicer says:

Welcome to Thailand:

A place where you are allowed to bring your repressed psychosis and live it out to the full...in a sort of impermeable bubble....

if this sort of story is not the biggest reality check around I dont know what is, and yet the psychosis army in their usual cycle of denial, repetition and then some more....

August 7, 2006 8:09 PM

mickyfin says:

Thats assuming everyone that goes to thailand is in a state of repressed psychosis,dont always assume that you know anything and everything about someone because appearances can be deceptive,as i say treat everyone as an individual and not as a group,treat a woman as a woman,not as "one of them" and you wont go far wrong,not every bar girl has bad intentions,but in percentage wise,you probably have more chance of bad things happening to you by the very nature of their job,but even so,you cant say the bar girls are all the same,set your mind free!

August 7, 2006 9:41 PM

Mr Thaksin, bangkokchat.org says:

Dicer wins "Thaky post of da day"

As for silly billy mickygin.

Let him continue to quote words nobody here has spoken.

Repressed psychosis if ever you'll heard it.

Thako

August 8, 2006 1:22 AM

Usama bin Drinkin says:

Said it all: "They will eventually kill the man in you in some way or the other, whether you are a Thai or a farang or a Khaeg... the best examples are Thai "men" themselves" That is what they do if you are weak. Damn straight.

The simple fact is, alot of the investment banker types are successful enough financially in their cocoon of civilized safety back in thier homeland, and that financial success has them thinking they are at the top of the food chain, but they have no red-neck skills, cannot survive in the boonies if needs be, and their manners that make them successful in business, make them complete TWATS when it comes to women. A Thai girl from the boonies will heathen him but good, first in bed, then at the shopping mall, and when they set up to play house, she will push her upper hand to the absolute limit, and he will let her, because he has no knowledge whastoever of how to get a lil brown darling from dogpatch under control. These guys are like "indoor cats" with no survival skills for the wild west outside. They need to wake up and smell the rice burnin' and go get that education - build that new skill set, and be CAPABLE of going commando if needs be, and assert that presence over the lil brown daisy, so she knows how it will be if she acts up.

I do not give a flying fuck how that comes out sounding to you. That is the raw truth. If you do not have the ability to deal with rough shit, and if you do not know how to assert male dominance in a relationship with an asian girl - escpecially an isaan girl! - then you are not equipped for the bloodsport of living together, and sooner or later you will be paying her to leave. Silly twats.

Som Nam Na!

August 8, 2006 7:44 AM

mickyfin says:

spacer boy,i suggest you take a look at yourself,my life is bang on son,im happy,are you?
micky

August 8, 2006 7:08 PM

Mr Thaksin, bangkokchat.org says:

Usama wins "Thaky post of da day"

as for you mickygin, your just an annoying little wonker.

Thako.

August 8, 2006 9:02 PM

rh tony bear says:

"DICER IS A LOSER" Mr spiceboy,you really are talking a whole load of poop,i mean! do you really want people to think that your intelligent? individual? think that you know everything while other people know nothing? i think in your heart you know your talking out of your rear,yes.maybe even in psychosis?
which reminds me,people say that im getting far to close to mr bush these days,and we are becoming to like americans in this country,thats a whole load of cotton picking hogwash if i ever heard it.

August 8, 2006 10:15 PM

Combover says:

Actually I disagree with Usama.

Default position is that a little kindness goes a long way. Be careful but not scared. Paranoia makes things worse.

August 9, 2006 9:58 AM

mickyfin says:

Its like I said thicko,treat everyone as an individual,there are good and bad in all walks of life,in every country in the world,people like you assume that they know evrything there is to know,while actually you know very little,as a famous person once said,you think your a man but your really a boy,and a thicko one at that.

August 10, 2006 5:17 AM

John Wayne says:

I have to agree with Usama to some degree.
If you get into a relationship with any girl. You best have the balls to drop the hammer if needed or you are done. 5 yrs ago I learned that when my wife of 15 yrs had an affair and I confronted her. She bailed a week later for her boyfriend. Then she was totally shocked 4 days later when I dropped the hammer by informing her I had initiated a divorce. Talk about a deer caught in the headlights look. Best call I ever made. I have my kids, my house, all my stuff, and non of her BS. I also have zero regrets and I collect child support from her. Best part of all, my kids are doing well. They are honor roll students and we share a very close bond. Life is good for this family.

There are a cpl of twists in all this. First I did this in a county that is noted to be heavily slanted towards women in regards to divorce. And the other twist is this. She figured she could get away with her actions because she always had on the lesser issues during our marriage. Because I held her accountable on this, she too planned my murder. She openly admitted, "had she figured a way that she reasonably could have gotten away with it. I'd be dead now."

So for the poor soul of the story, all I can say is. Too bad he was such a candy ass. He shoulda booted her instead of putting up with her BS. A real man can properly raise his own child/children. It takes guts and determination.

August 11, 2006 12:56 AM

daniel says:

JOHN WAYNE, i take it your wife was thai..? if so, then well done!

hey if you meet a bitch then eventually shes gonna get medieval on your ass. if you dont, you should be ok, but i will never take any chances, she may be nice but her family, friends, hangers- on may be real cunts... so never give her or them the benefit of any doubt, we are in their country and they know it.

August 11, 2006 9:12 PM

Landmark Larry says:

I wouldn't trust any woman I'd met whoring in a bar. They've got no morals, no self respect, they're just bloody greedy freeloaders.

August 13, 2006 4:07 AM

John says:

It's a touching story, one that nevertheless is happening all around us in and around Asia, My Dad in 11 days is marrying a Thai girl from Issan, however I don't think she was a Bar Girl, I'm not sure whether to tell him or not, he must know the risks!

August 13, 2006 11:42 PM

wulfman says:

Never marry abar girl? Well that may be a good guideline , but there can be a pearl in that oyster!
Many years ago on my first ever visit to BKK, I was with a young American and an old hand from the Viet R and R days.
The vet lectured us on the perils of the scene and warned us just to play and get away.
Well what happened? The very first pub we are in the young guy is collared by this darling and he is google eyed and gone!
He was lucky she had just started working that way.Anyway to cut a long story short he married her, they have beautiful kids,(now graduated and doing well).
Me and the old vet are still bitter and twisted!
But it's a fact that BKK is a different animal these days and I stay away, preferring Phuket.

August 14, 2006 7:37 PM

isaan girl says:

Why are you talk shit about Thailand? I don't get it. Why farangs go to Thailnd and hang out with a bunch of low lives. I went to Northern Pattaya, Soi Cowboy, Soi Kaosan, and places that farangs hang out...just to see. Nice Thai people would not hang out at those places. I still don't get it. Why do you foreigners go to Thailand and hang out with bar girls and get drunk? Don't you have respect for yourself. I don't beleive that Thai prostitutes were forced or have no other choices. There are so many thing to do and see in Thailand besides sex tour. It would be nice if foreigners stop going to those kind of places. Well...then I woke up.

Isaan girl.

August 14, 2006 10:41 PM

Gary Paxton Jr says:

Two years ago when the New York magazine Time Out ran an article on the unsolved or, more precisely, uninvestigated deaths of Western men in Thailand they were inundated with affronted emails, letters and jungle drums from Stateside guys who were happily married to Thai gals. The article claimed that the newspaper, Pattaya Mail, had amassed 240 articles on what are somewhat jokingly termed Pattaya Flyers; guys who â€˜accidentallyâ€™ fall from high rise buildings and where the only witness was his Thai girlfriend Loi and maybe her brother. Thereâ€™s at least one death per month reported. The strangest was some poor 59yo schmuck who; according to Loi, â€œjust go fridge for drink but mistake open window instead and fall outâ€. A mistake anyone whoâ€™s been around refrigerators for 60 years can make. This guy, like any greenhorn hitting Pattaya, can so easily fall for what appear to Western eyes, exotic girls. The greatest irony is, in a place known as the LOS (land of..), that the Thaiâ€™s (like the Chinese) do not have the facial muscles that naturally manifest a smile engendered by feelings of joy, pleasure, amusement or whatever. The Thai smile, like that on the face of the Chinese, is a forced contortion and one can only wonder what insidious messages are notoriously hidden behind such a grimace. And yet guys arrive in their droves looking for love amongst the estimated two million prostitutes that ploy trade in the bars and streets of all the major tourist spots.

August 15, 2006 4:33 AM

Hugh Jarse says:

[[[Well...then I woke up.]]]
in bed with a foreigner????????

August 15, 2006 10:03 AM

Grunt says:

Still, given the choice between a violent death roasting and dismemberment or marriage to a western female...hmm.

August 15, 2006 1:46 PM

Doctor Bob Rix says:

I would imagine that Phil H , Mr Thaksin, and Jack Howitzer who all inputted to this blog on Aug 5th have never been to the Philippines but, if so, only for a day trip and maybe with their eyes shut at that. Yes, perhaps the corruption in the Philippines is more open and honest (if that predicament can ever be justified) but here you never witness the sordidity of Thailand's sex tourism. Six years in Thailand and five years here in the PI have convinced me so. The bar girls here just seem to be more 'real' and the â€œhi handsome manâ€ is never used (unless the guy is really fat and ugly). Yes there are murders but by men gangs in Angeles but never plots to kill those you have committed under Gods eyes to love honor and obey. I don't think the Christian ethic of the Philippines can be held up as a benchmark for the atrocities in commercial Thailandâ€™s mixed marriage problems. Look inside for the answers; and yes, RIP to this poor guy.

August 15, 2006 4:58 PM

mickyfin says:

I agree with issan girl,there are many places to meet beautiful thai girls,you would not go with a prostiute in your own country then marry her,so why do it in thailand?
Have a good time if thats what you want but see it for what it is and get out and meet some decent thai people,there are plenty.

August 16, 2006 5:28 AM

isaan girl says:

Farangs will never understood the Thais no matter how long they live here...unless they can read and write Thai very well. How can you live in Thailand and don't really understand Thai people and our culture. Why do farangs marry Thai women when they can not communicate???????????

Isaan girl(woman)

August 16, 2006 8:16 AM

ozricmann says:

i gotta say that picture of the wife looks somewhat tainted by a look of hatred for men.

jeeze,why would anyone marry her, i know these issan girls are great actresses....well compared to some of the thai soap stars...can cry on cue etc, but we always have to look at the bigger picture.

dont we !

August 19, 2006 8:48 PM

Mark says:

New TB,really nice guy,obviously wasnt a good time for Hua Hin or Thailand.Sad but expected that the Thai authorities draged their feet. Does anyone know what sentences were handed out by the court. Also like to say there is good and bad in everyone. Has it occured to me that my "wife" might do away with me of course it has, I believe its also occured to the majority of you. Could it happen to you of course it could, get real.

September 3, 2006 10:49 AM

Andy says:

Hua Hin seems to be a last resort for farangs; given the crap options available for entertainment of a night-time. Total shower of shit, night-wise.
A bit like Songkhla in that boom-towns created by foreign technology are shockingly devoid of entertainment for the brains that spawned them.

September 3, 2006 8:10 PM

Scott says:

Four Thais sentenced to life for murder of British man

The Petchaburi provincial court convicted a Thai woman and three of her neighbours to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of the woman's British ex-husband, whose charred remains were found scattered in a Thai national park.

Forty-one year old Toby Charnaud disappeared in March 2005 after going to pick up his son at the home of his ex-wife, Panadda Charnaud.

Panadda hired Boontien Puipong, Chatree Prathum and Pinit Sattabutr to kill Mr Charnaud - a former farmer from Chippenham in Wiltshire - who was beaten to death with an iron rod.

British newspapers said Mr Charnaud met Panadda, a former Bangkok bargirl in 1997. He sold his farm and bought two bars in the seaside town of Hua Hin.

He divorced Pannada because of her gambling debts and gave her 777,000 baht.

The court said Panadda wanted sole custody of their son, Daniel, who now lives with his father's family in England. The Charnaud family lawyer said the motive was to "inherit everything through their son".

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/
breakingnews.php?id=112718

September 6, 2006 9:10 PM

seashell says:

Hey, just came back from Hua Hin...and spent an aweful night with a Thai women bitching about her Brit husand and the pending divorce..had to check the photos of the murderess to make sure it was not HER. It's put me back on my heels because the Land OF Smiles can be engaging....now I am on a different tip...no bruthas to barbeque here....I'm already black enough:)

September 7, 2006 12:21 PM

mick says:

I think that Thaihome has said it all

October 13, 2006 8:19 PM

gene wilder says:

whats the truth about that bastard po;iceman somchai wisetsingh who murdered the couple in kanchanaburi 1n 04..is he in the monkey house or quietly released?..id love to put that bastard on a bar.b cue in issan....gene wilder.

November 21, 2006 10:16 PM

Mr Squirty says:

I really agree with comments made by Usama & Daniel, basically: never put your life in someone else's hands, don't advertize your wealth: it only promotes envy and tempts people to try & scam you, never let anyone know the full extent of your wealth or its wherabouts. Dont put all your eggs in one basket, always keep a packed suitcase and be prepared to vote with your feet. I don't think it is necessary to try to dominate or master the women in our lives, be they brown jungle bunnies or otherwise, but if the milk turns sour (given enough time it usually does) then I aint the pussy to drink it!

It's interesting, Andy comments "we've all been a bit green on first arrival" he's dead right, things done in haste are rarely done properly, I have moved around the world a fair bit during my 45 odd years of existance, lived in the States and the UK and made a few trips over to the Philippines, but the success of my recent first visit in Thailand owes as much to good luck as it does to worldly experience & good common sense, particularly as i was (much of the time) using my cock as a compass needle!

I took the 10+ hour train journey from Hua Lamphung to Udon Thanni and the air con broke down en-route, strange the intense heat didn't affect me too bad but most of the Thais on the train looked close to heat exhaustion. When the train finally arrived the internet babe who had arranged to meet me there was nowhere to be found, it was early evening, dark, and the locals (issan people) didn't strike me as over friendly...the tuk tuk drivers are over pushy when touting for fares and they dont like being told to fuck off, also my little trick of wandering alone through the deserted streets at midnight (being unable to find my hotel)is not to be reccomended, I had the feeling at that time that I might well end my days with a barbecue spit up my arse.

My current Thai girlfriend describes the Issan people as: "dirty" but is only referring to their habbit of eating: raw meat, blood, and parasites found in cow shit, she acknowleges that these people (their agriculture) is very poor and that they are forced to eat anything that grows, walks or crawls.

I guess I am lucky my Issan "internet babe" was no show at the train station, though I may be a bit harsh in my judgement (the place aint altogether bad) at any rate I can sympathize with the misfortunes of poor Toby Charnaud and figure that his story has resonance for us all.

May 27, 2007 11:26 PM

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