A 63-year-old German man whose Thai wife recently left him after living together for 21 years was found dead yesterday morning after a fire destroyed their home.
Police identified the dead man as Uwe A. He was found hanging from the wrought iron gate of the house. According to previous reports, he was hanging from a beam in the kitchen.
A spray-painted message hung on an outside wall that read “21 years of cheating but never enough, f*** you”.
The victim’s wife, 60-year-old Kamolwan, told police her husband had given up on Germany to marry her 21 years ago, and they had lived together since police said.
According to Kamolwan, she moved to the Phanom Thuan district of Kanchanaburi to live last month, leaving her husband at home alone. She was shocked when she learned of his death and rushed to the scene. She did not comment on her decision to move to Phanom Thuan.
Police speculated as to what caused this tragedy and believe that Uwe decided to set the house on fire and hang himself because he was injured when his wife left him. The man’s body was sent for an autopsy to determine whether he committed suicide or was murdered.
The fire was reported at around 3:30 a.m. at house 452 in Kanchanaburi Villa Housing Estate in Tambon Tha Makham in the main district, Police Lieutenant Suthikan Iamsamang said.
Ten fire trucks had to turn out to fight the fire.
When firefighters arrived, the two-storey house was already engulfed in flames. They had to cut a padlock to slide open the main gate and enter the property. It took them about an hour to extinguish the flames.
Neighbours told police that the dead man had lived in the house with his Thai wife for about 10 years. Lately, the woman visited him only occasionally. They said the man rarely spoke to them.
They said they heard three or four loud explosions in the house just before 3:30 am. They went outside to look and saw that the house was on fire. They immediately called the police.
When firefighters and police officers searched the second floor, they found two 15-kilogram gas cylinders, each surrounded by four burned tires. They speculated that the German set fire to the car tires to burn down the house before going downstairs to hang himself.
The forensic investigation is underway.
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