Police and forensic officers examine the scene in Rayong where the body of a young woman believed to be a missing 18-year-old from the Pattaya area was discovered inside a garbage bin, triggering a major murder investigation.
PATTAYA, Thailand – A young woman believed to be an 18-year-old from the Pattaya area who disappeared after reportedly traveling to Rayong to meet her boyfriend has been found dead inside a garbage bin, police said on Thursday. The shocking discovery was made on June 18 when sanitation workers collecting waste in Klaeng district noticed a human leg protruding from a garbage truck as its hydraulic compactor was crushing refuse collected from a large blue bin. Police, forensic officers, and rescue personnel rushed to the scene on a secluded road cutting through agricultural land in Krasae Bon subdistrict, Klaeng district, Rayong.
The victim was described as a fair-skinned young woman with distinctive tattoos, including a large graphic tattoo covering most of her back and additional tattoos on her chest. Investigators believe she had been dead for approximately three to five days before her body was discovered. According to local reports and information obtained by police, the victim’s appearance and tattoos closely match those of an 18-year-old woman known as “Namfon,” who was recently reported missing from the Pattaya area. Family members reportedly told authorities that the teenager had informed relatives she was traveling to Rayong to meet her boyfriend before contact with her was suddenly lost. The discovery has sent shockwaves through both Rayong and Pattaya, where relatives and friends had been searching for clues about her disappearance.
Police from Klaeng Police Station are now reviewing CCTV footage from multiple locations and tracing the victim’s movements in the days before her disappearance. Investigators are also working to identify anyone who may have been in contact with her before her death. Authorities have not yet formally confirmed the victim’s identity pending forensic examination and notification of next of kin. However, investigators said the evidence gathered so far strongly suggests a connection to the missing Pattaya teenager. The circumstances surrounding the death remain unclear, but police are treating the case as a suspected homicide and have launched an intensive manhunt to identify and arrest those responsible. Anyone with information relevant to the case is urged to contact local police.
