Last week, the alleged incident where customers were served minced human meat at a vegetarian restaurant in Bangkok took the region by storm. Apparently, the story was that a former customer was murdered by the restaurant owner who then served his flesh to current customers.
The alleged incident was picked up by many news portals such as Vice, the Daily Mail and a few others, including this report that we did (we are sorry tau), which was quoted from Asia One.
However, after recent updates from the local police, the widely covered incident is said to have NEVER happened. Police investigators told Coconuts that it could not have happened as the restaurant was not even open for business at the time of the victim’s death.
Lt. Col. Adul Thongpetch, the police investigator of the case explained that,
“We suspect he was murdered on Oct 21. This restaurant has not fully completed construction. They opened for three days towards the end of the vegetarian festival (which ended Oct 17). This means the restaurant had been closed for several days before the man died.”
A police spokesman, Sub-Lt. Sawang Wongbut also mentioned the same story and elaborated that it was just a murder investigation and nothing more.
When asked whether there are any possibilities that some parts of victim’s flesh were missing or used in cooking, Lt. Col. Adul answered no and said that the victim suffered from a beating to his head and face.
The main suspect, Boonyuen Kamtawee, is actually the brother of the restaurant’s owner. Both him and the victim were hired to work on the restaurant’s construction and the pair was often witnessed having drinks together at night.
The victim’s body was found in the septic tank and later identified by his family based on the tattoo on his chest.
Boonyuen turned himself in after an arrest warrant was issued but he declined to cooperate and he is currently working with a lawyer to defend himself in court.
Looks like this human flesh story was blown out of proportion from a murder investigation and is fake after all!
Also read: What Really Happened on the Night a Father Murdered His Family Before Committing Suicide