Lampang —
A British teenager has been found dead with head wounds in a forest in Lampang province, northern Thailand. His girlfriend who went for a motorbike ride with him also went missing.
The deceased teenager, Ben, 16, was found in a grove in the Ban Than district with injuries resembling blunt force, local police reported on Sunday morning, May 7th.
The victim of British nationality, who has a Thai mother and was largely raised in Thailand, went for a motorbike ride with his Thai girlfriend Yam, also 16, in his hometown of Lampang on Saturday but did not return home.
His body was found by a garbage collector who was at work on Sunday morning.
Police Colonel Sittisak Singtongla, superintendent of the Mae Tha Police, told the Thai media: ‘The station received a notification at 10.15am that a deceased person was found in the undergrowth.’
Upon inspection of Ben’s body, the authorities found that his phone and cash were not with him. He was found with his back against a tree wearing a black long sleeve T-shirt and jeans.
Police said that the body has been taken to a local hospital for an autopsy.
The victim’s girlfriend also went missing, and police are searching for her.
‘We are currently tracking down individuals close to the victim, including his female companion. She is a key figure in this case since she is the last person to see him alive,’ Col Sittisak said.
The parents of the missing girl were reported to have ‘pleaded’ with the media to help find their daughter.
Police said they are not ruling out any motives, which ranges from a possible love affair, a personal conflict, a work dispute, and a robbery.
Ben’s mother, Ooy Taota, told police that her son had said goodbye to her on Saturday evening and said he was ‘going to work with friends’ but he did not give any more details to her.
Ben’s friends took to his Facebook account to leave tributes for him.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister website, The Pattaya News, owned by our parent company TPN media.
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