Thread: Japanese father returns to Thailand, pursuing 17-Year quest for daughter’s murderer

Yasuaki Kawashita, a Japanese man from Osaka, returned to Thailand today to demand answers from the Thai police regarding the unsolved murder of his then 27-year-old daughter during the Loy Krathong festival in Sukhothai province 17 years ago.


He is scheduled to revisit the spot in Sukhothai Historical Park where his daughter, Tomoko, was killed, something he has done almost every time he has returned to Thailand.

Tomoko’s throat was slashed and her body suffered knife wounds, Thai police said. Her body was found near Wat Saphan Hin in the Mueang district, lying next to the bicycle she had rented for sightseeing.


Some of her belongings were missing, leading police to suspect that it was a robbery gone wrong. “She was stabbed when the attacker tried to rob her. She resisted and ran away, but then he caught her and slashed her throat with a knife,” a police officer said at the time.

Tomoko had arrived in Thailand as a solo tourist. She had saved money for her Thailand trip by taking extra jobs and was especially attracted to the Loy Krathong festival, her parents had said. Sukhothai authorities reported a drop in tourists after the murder.

In the years since his daughter’s death, her father, now 75, has returned to Thailand almost annually to seek justice. He suspended these trips a few years ago due to the COVID-19 outbreak and this visit marks his first visit since the pandemic.


During his previous visits, he met with Justice ministers and senior Justice Ministry officials, demanding progress in the investigation. This time, Yasuaki plans to return to the murder spot and meet with incumbent Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong on February 15, seeking the latest developments in the investigation.

He will also request an extension to the 20-year statute of limitations on his daughter’s case, which will be reached in 2027.


In 2013, after Sukhothai police had failed to make any progress, the Department of Special Investigation reopened the case.


They expanded the search, questioning more people and conducting further DNA analyses to compare with DNA found on the victim’s clothing.A mass DNA collection was carried out, involving 379 Thai men, but no matches were found. A Japanese tourist, who was seen with Tomoko at the time, refused to provide a DNA sample and left the country.


In 2020, the Thai authorities announced a breakthrough in the case, after they applied more advanced DNA testing methods to the sample found on Tomoko.


Wannapong Kotcharak, then director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, claimed that, with the new method, they could conclude that the DNA found on the victim’s clothing did not match that of Thai men.


“It matched men from East Asia in the global genetic database, accessible to Thai geneticists,” he said.

Then, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin declared his intention to ask Japanese authorities to collect DNA from the Japanese man seen with Tomoko.


“At that time, he had refused to cooperate by providing tissue samples for lab tests and left Thailand the day after her body was found. We can start by checking his DNA in the next phase of the investigation, which will involve collaboration between the two countries,” Somsak said.


The breakthrough, four years ago, was the most recent update provided by the Thai authorities.


Yasuaki will be seeking more during this week’s visit.


Japanese father returns to Thailand, pursuing 17-Year quest for daughter's murderer | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

^ To be fair, it could be the nip.

In such a case, being a suspect in the murder of a fellow national in another country, the Jap rozzas should be able to legally obtain a DNA sample from Nippy on the condition that the Thais send some of the DNA laden material to Japan so the Nips can see if they match. If they do, send Nippy and his body full of incriminating DNA to Thailand.

Originally Posted by DrWilly

That a what sad tale.

Years long time, 17 a is.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Years long time, 17 a is.

Must be my dyslexia.

Bt2m reward for information leading to arrest of Japanese tourist’s murderer

The Department of Special Investigation has offered a reward of 2 million baht to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of the killer of a Japanese tourist 17 years ago.


The announcement was made today via the department’s Facebook page and is the latest effort by Thai law enforcement to find the killer of Tomoko Kawashita, whose body was found in a temple compound in Sukhothai province in 2007.


Her throat had been cut and her belongings were missing, leading police to suspect that she had been a victim of a robbery gone wrong.


The victim’s still grieving father, Yasuaki, is now in Thailand again to demand progress in the DSI’s investigation into the unsolved murder of his daughter.


Before the outbreak of COVID-19, he returned to Thailand almost every year in his quest to find his daughter’s killer. This year, he arrived last weekend and revisited the site where her body was found in Sukhothai.


He and his wife wept while laying flowers on the spot and spoke in loving memory of their daughter.


He also met with Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong yesterday at the ministry, but was not provided with any new information.


Yasuaki asked Tawee about the possibility of extending the statute of limitations on Tamako’s case, which is due to be reached in three years. In Japan, there has been an amendment to related laws, allowing the extension of the statute of limitations, the father said. Tawee later told reporters that he would look into the request.


The DSI reopened the case in 2013, six years after the murder, as Sukhothai police had failed to make any progress.


DNA samples were collected from 379 Thai men, but no matches were found. A Japanese tourist, who was reportedly seen with Tamako around the time of her death, refused to provide a DNA sample and left the country.


In 2020, Thai authorities applied a more advanced DNA testing method to the sample found on Tamako. The result showed that the suspect was not genetically Thai.


Tomoko, then 27, was cheerful and in high spirits when she left Japan for Thailand, only to have her life tragically ended. After arriving in Bangkok on November 3, 2007, she visited many provinces in Thailand, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang and Kanchanaburi.


She arrived in Sukhothai from Laos on November 24, for the Loy Krathong festival.


On November 25, at 10:30am, she bought an entrance ticket to Saphan Hin Temple and, at 1:10pm, her body was discovered in the temple compound. To date, nobody knows what happened during those 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Bt2m reward for information leading to arrest of Japanese tourist's murderer | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world