NAKHON RATCHASIMA – A Swiss man was under pressure after locals in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, suspected him of being the cause of his Thai wife’s disappearance. Finally, he confessed that he had killed her.
Orathai Posingam, had been missing since January 8, 2024, from her home in Khok Khwan, Chaliang Sub-district, Khonburi District Nakhon Ratchasima province. Her Swiss husband, Roland, 53, told police that she ran away after they argued.
Orathai inherited over 13 million baht from her first Swiss husband, who died in 2021. She then married Roland, another Swiss man who was a former train driver in Switzerland. The couple moved to Thailand about two years ago.
Roland came to Khonburi Police Station on January 29 to be questioned after the police found some suspicious circumstances, including his statement to Orathai’s sister that she had probably run away, but she didn’t take her shoes or any belongings with her.
Police seized Roland’s passport due to ongoing investigations into his wife’s disappearance.
Mr. Roland had stated that he was not engaged in his wife’s disappearance. He was mainly concerned about when she would return. However, after long hours of questioning, he admitted that he had killed her by strangling during a quarrel.
He loaded his wife’s body onto a motorbike and drove to a cornfield in Ban Khok Kruat, approximately 3 km from their home. The police officers then escorted Mr. Roland to show them where to take the body for examination.
The authorities discovered a Jack of Hearts card in Ms. Orathai’s mouth, and there seemed to be duct tape covering her mouth.
Before his confession, Mr. Roland had kept to himself at home and had not observed the search. He only left the house to have coffee, eat, or respond to police calls. He has refused to speak with the media.
On January 28, when police searched the couple’s home and sent a team of divers from the Phuttham 31 Foundation in Nakhon Ratchasima to look for Orathai in a pond near the village temple, he did not even come to take part in a stakeout with her relatives and the rescue team that was looking for her in various places.
Chai Tawanmai, a radio DJ who is one of Roland’s few close friends, spoke to him about the case. Roland told Chai that he was worried because people in the area suspected him of being responsible for his wife’s disappearance.
“Roland told me that he had scolded his wife for gambling and she might have run away from the people to whom she owed money. He said he didn’t know where to go searching for her because he did not know anyone,” said Chai Tawanmai.
Police investigated Ms. Orathai’s bank account and discovered that money had been transferred from it to Mr. Roland’s account at around 10:00 p.m. on January 8. Miss Orathai’s sister last saw her when she had less than 2,000 baht in her account.
Mr. Roland told the authorities that Ms. Orathai personally transferred this amount to him using a bank app to repay a loan debt. The police are awaiting verification results from the bank, after which all information will be collected as evidence and investigative guidelines.
____
Related article:
Korat Police Charge a Swiss Man With First-Degree Murder of His Wife
