The Misery Machine - Thai Murder Babes: The Praew Phenomenon

Episode Date: March 29, 2021

Preeyanuch Nonwangchai, Apiwan Satayabundit, and Kawita Ratchada are not household names in the west, but they took Thailand's media by storm after what they did to 23-year-old Warissara Klinjui. In May 2017, the Thai public became enthralled with a grisly karaoke bar murder case. Police quickly apprehended the three women responsible for the crime - and the so-called Thai “Murder Babes” became media sensations - with merchandise being produce in their honor. Men wanted them - women wanted to be them. Drewby and Yergy review this case and ponder how on earth three cold blooded killers became icons.    A very special thank you to Levi for supporting our show as our highest tier patron! Levi's Adoption Fundraising Page: https://gofund.me/d658a3a7 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://meaww.com/murder-babes-sentenced-to-127-years-for-slaying-woman-and-cutting-up-her-body-before-burying-it https://www.ranker.com/list/thai-preaw-babes-facts/travis-morgan https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6262579/thailand-murder-babes-killed-karaoke-bar-colleague-jailed/ https://youtu.be/j14_zL_YgQo    

Hi, we're the Missouri Machine. I'm Miergy. And I'm Drewby. This week we're doing a case that's not very well known in the States. It's very rarely covered in English. And that's the Thai murder babes. Yes, I had a really hard time getting any information on this. So I really hope you enjoy what I found. Yes. And if you're listening on YouTube, please hit like and subscribe. We just passed 4,400 subscribers. So thank you so much for everyone who's helped. Yes, thank you so much. We appreciate every single person who likes and subscribes. Yes, absolutely. And I have to, I have to just point out this little. So we're in Lewiston in a place that we... buying the Lewiston... Not the Lewiston Mall, but it's near the Lewiston Mall.

A place that we grew up, there was like a movie theater here. I know it's the pet store that I used to work in was in here. And they just have just beautiful graffiti back here. There's some other graffiti that I can't show you, or else maybe the YouTube video will get taken down, but I just thought this was so cool. Anyway, anyway... It has nothing to do with the episode.

We just wanted to show you. Urban decay aside. Urban decay aside. Without further ado. It's high murder babes. year old Wara Sara Klinjui, known to friends as Aam, worked in a bar as a karaoke hostess along with two other young women, 25-year-old Priyajan Nuch Nongwen Chai, and 26-year-old Kawita Rachata. All three women dabbled in sex work from time to time.

Prostitution in Thailand is technically illegal. Because of police corruption, prostitution remains a huge problem. The workers usually come from the results of poverty, low levels of education, lack of local hiring, rural backgrounds, and are mostly from the northeast, from ethnic minorities, or from neighboring countries, especially Myanmar and Laos. They are often sold into the sex trade by family members due to poverty. It is estimated that the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000 people. Prostitution may take place in a number of different types of venues, including brothels, hotels, massage parlors, restaurants, even, saunas, hostas bars, go-go bars, and, quote, beer bars. This needs to be stressed because I think a lot of people might think, well, they want to be prostitutes, good on them.

You know, it's their choice, you go, girl. But there's a lot of societal differences here. Many are children. Yes. Also, many Thai trans women are forced into prostitution as well. Yes, that's true. I also want to say neither of us are native Thai speakers. We tried to look up pronunciation of some of these names and came up pretty empty.

So just want to let you know we're doing our best. We are absolutely trying. If we said it wrong, please let us know in the common section. So Nong Wang Chai and Klinjui started getting to regular fights after Klinjui incurred a $1,500 Thai bought their money in Thailand drug debt with Nong Wang Chai and had not paid it back in a timely manner. reportedly Non-Wang Chai and her husband both used and dealt methamphetamine. The real trouble started, however, when Klinjui reported Non-Wang Chai's husband to the police for dealing drugs.

Shortly after, Klinjui disappeared. Much like many Southeast Asian countries, Thailand is fairly strict with drug offenses and fairly strict as an understatement. Yes. So punishment can go up to life imprisonment in a fine of 100,000 to 5 million bot, or even. Even the death penalty. That is true. So I remember when I was younger and I heard of people getting hung for having marijuana on them in certain countries. That is actually real in some countries.

Yes, Malaysia being one of them. So this is depending on the amount and the substance or substances found. And it's specific to distribution or possession for the purpose of distribution. So if you have just a possession charge, it's up to 10 years imprisonment or a fine of 20,000 to 200. thousand bought. Initially, it was Klinjui's husband, Sakhai Bafthong-D, who was considered a suspect in her disappearance because he was away from home often working in the trades. He was even shocked when he found out about the double life his wife was leading. So he had no idea that she was doing this on the side. He was off to work and had no idea that she was a sex worker. According to Bafthong-D,

Klinjui had told him that she was living a quiet life with her mother. The reality was that, she was working as a hostess in a bar and that she was in a steady relationship with an old female classmate of hers. So CCTV footage showed Klinjui getting into a car on May 23rd, 2017, and this was the last time that she was seen alive. Nong Wanshai and Rachata were the ones who had picked the victim up in a rented car, with the pretext of discussing a new job opportunity with her. Nong Lanshai, however, lost her temper, causing her to asphyxiate Klinjui to death with a plastic bag that she had from an earlier trip to a convenience store. The suspects told authorities that the plan was just to rough up Klinjui and scare her.

But while the assault was taking place, the victim allegedly shouted, quote, If I survive, then you die, end quote. This infuriated Nang Chai even more, and she suffocated Klinjui to death. They then called 28-year-old Apuwan Sataya Boondit and another friend, Wassen Namprom, to help cut up Klinjui's body before they buried the pieces in a shallow grave. And it was very gruesome. I accidentally happened upon the pictures online. Yeah, I didn't realize that those were available online. Yes. I have not seen them. I have. They cut her in half completely. So her bum and her legs and her feet were in one bin.

In the other bin was her torso with her head and arms still attached, but they cut her hands off. Oh my God. So it was pretty, pretty brutal. After they committed the murder, they stopped at a hardware store and bought a saw. They took Klinjuwe's corpse to a hotel room where, according to their driver, Wassen, non-pram, Non-Wang Chai chopped the body up, wrapped the parts in garbage bags, and stuff them into bins. The suspects then dug a shallow grave and buried Klinjui's remains in it. The body was buried in Konkane Cow, Swung, Kwong district. I'm sorry, I'm sure I butcher that.

and the suspects had used steel sheets to cover the grave. Unfortunately for them, they forgot to account for the smell of decomposition, and this led authorities to the makeshift grave. Investigators found Klinjui's body cut in half, wrapped in garbage bags, and stuffed into black bins. Police were able to identify the body as Klinjui's based on her distinctive tattoos, and it is true in the pictures you can see a tattoo that she has on her chest. Just before the arrest of the suspect's more salacious details of the ringleader Non-Wang Chai started emerging.

Her lifestyle added fuel to the already roaring media flame. Now, this didn't get much international attention, but this was probably what got it at least a little bit of international intention and why this is known, why they're like decent English translations and information to be found on this. It was because of the media attention around Nan Wang Chai. been reported that she would charge men up to 5,000 Thai bought for a night for her sexual services, and she also made more money on the side as a webcam model. Nan Wang Chai comes from a rural community and her illegal activities gave her the sufficient funds to be able to get cosmetic surgery to look the way that she wanted to. She used methamphetamine regularly and used to have drug-fueled sex sessions with her clients

and other women. On social media, Nong Wanchai displayed a lifestyle unlike her upbringing. bringing in an impoverished rural community. She frequently sported designer's shoes and handbags and often took photos with large stacks of cash and white powder. After the crime, Nangwen Chai uploaded a few pictures of one of horror's most recognizable characters, Chucky the Murderist Doll from the Child's Play horror franchise.

She also had a shirt she kept sporting and giving peace signs as well in pictures. Yes, with, I think we get to this, but with cops. Cops posed for pictures with her. This was kind of separate. It she was, she definitely did take pictures with P signs with cops, but she was wearing like a murder doll Chucky t-shirt and flashing Pete signs and stuff. What is it with killers being obsessed with Chucky?

I was going to actually add this to the notes. I'm glad you had the same thought as I did. Suzanne Capper. Suzanne Capper, they were playing that song. They would play the, the Chucky song, or basically it was a techno remix of a Chucky song with samples from Child's play in it on earbleed in her earbleed in her. to torture her. And just what is it about that? These are generations apart. This happened in 2017

where Suzanne Capper was... Quite a while ago. Yeah, so... So it was really strange. So they fled to the neighboring country, Laos, and looked for work in massage parlors, but they were arrested while out shopping for designer clothes.

Dubbed the murder babes. They turned themselves into the authorities in June of 2017 in Myanmar, and then were flown. back to Thailand for the case. All of them were charged with premeditated murder, theft, concealing a corpse, and overstaying their visas. Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, non-Wang Chai was not charged with one drug-related offense even though there was evidence. Well, when you have that many charges, you're probably looking at life in prison. I can understand not getting the drug charge.

So the murder of the 23-year-olds became national news, and in a twisted perspective, many ties were rooting for the killers. Yes. There was some major media frenzy around the case, and some reporters hailed the murderers for having, this is a quote, having a pure heart and a sense of responsibility. End quote. End quote. I can't believe this. It's insane. One headline read, at least she knows how to be dutiful.

Also a quote. What does that mean in this case? I really need to know what that means. And another article praised Nang Wenshai for building a house for her mother. Many people in the country were obsessed with the three killers, and this led to the immense sales of key chains, posters, and many more novelty products, all in the honor of the suspects. I can't make this up.

This is, this is, I can't believe this. One of the top selling items was a replica of a pillow, non-Wang Chai used while under police custody. when the media released footage of the suspects carrying colorful striped bags, the accessories became a hot commodity. And they're not even that cute. There's pictures of it. They're not even cute bags. In absolutely no time at all, the three murders were in every publication news outlet. So not only were people idolizing them. People wanted to, you know, people wanted to look like them. They wanted to dress like them. They wanted things that they had. This is such a strange thing. And I can't really, I can go in this later, but I can't think of any. other case that this really compares to with this type of media response.

So the key chain, it was like this little silver hacksaw. Oh my God. Little silver hacksaw and it came with a picture of Nang Weng Chai. This is sick. So there was also, and Drewie mentioned this, a rash of pictures that appeared in the media which featured the suspects laughing, smoking, and posing with police officers for selfies. Images of the woman putting on

makeup wearing night masks and holding peace signs just show how remorseless these young women were and all the special treatment that they were getting. So the police has stated that it was standard procedure to allow women to put on makeup prior to press conferences. However, the officers that were photographed with Nongwen Chai were later transferred from the department. And it's not like they were photographed against their will.

You look at these pictures. They posed for them. They were excited to have their pictures taken with these girls. And they were like smiling and... Isn't there one of all of them standing outside? It looks like they're standing. with pop stars, basically. That's how it looked like to me.

Like, if I didn't know any better, I'd just be like, oh, these girls must be pop stars, and these police are fans of them. That's what it looks like. Yeah, it's so ridiculous. So, nickname the butcher prow, Prow being the tie word for sour, and we've heard several different pronunciations of that word.

I'm going to go with Prow. Non-Wang Chai and Ricciata were initially given life in prison by the provincial court of Concan Court on May 10th, but the punishment was reduced to 34. years because they cooperated and confessed. So you can just literally get 60 years shaved off just because you confess and cooperate. Sataya Bunda was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, destroying and hiding the body, and consuming methamphetamine. She was handed 33 years and nine months in jail. Their male friend and driver of the car, 22-year-old Wausen non-prom, was found guilty of being an accessory to murder, conspiring to destroy and hide the body,

and conspiring in theft, leading to a sentence of 23 years, four months, and 20 days. All arrested were ordered to pay $1.07 million, which comes to $33,570 U.S. to support Klinjui's family and $100,000, which is roughly $3,138 U.S. dollars for her funeral. A fifth defendant, Jindarat Prom Kuhn, 23, was sentenced to one year for receiving the victim's stolen phone to sell. The media frenzy surrounding the murder babe's case has had some unintended consequences. The news cycle kept the women in the spotlight even after the trial was over. And stories like, quote, pilot who flew murder gang that dismembered om opens his heart.

Opens his heart. End quote. Opens his heart. And pilot who flew, I'm assuming they're referring to the driver and calling him a pilot or like. Either if like why would they, I mean, maybe. when they flew them back from... Oh, the airline pilot. Okay.

I didn't know if they were referring to the getaway driver as the pilot who flew in some romanticized type of way. That's disgusting. I wouldn't be surprised. But hopefully it was just the pilot, even if it was just the pilot

who literally flew them back from Myanmar, that's still... The inability of the media to follow ethical and professional standards may have lost some much needed support for the freedom of the press. The Thai military government government made moves to require everyone working in the press to have a government-approved license.

The government dropped the stipulation from the media reform bill. However, the bid to regulate the press has gained new steam, thanks in part to how the Thai press handled the murder babes case. And I'm all about freedom of press. But what to me it sounds like is really cheesy tabloids became the real news. Yeah, imagine if the National Enquirer and the Sun were your front page daily headlines that people took seriously. Like, this is insane. I really cannot think of another case that compares. People talk about women, stop fetishizing Ted Bundy, stop fetishizing, insert other handsome serial killer. What's another one that people fetishize? Ed Kemper, maybe. I think that's just me. Maybe that's just you. I don't know. I should even leave that. Absolutely.

But this isn't even close to the Ted Bundy idolizing. or romanticism. This is 10 times worse, in my opinion. There's like a few things here that need unpacking. So one, we're now shitting on the death of a poor sex worker, which is a common thing. Yeah, incredibly common in fictional media and in just everyday news. How police handle the death of sex workers in general. They're usually not given the same resources or care. They're often cold-cased. It's just really sad. I mean, I guess maybe there's more to it. Maybe you'll have some more thought. My real big thing here was, hey, we're shooting on sex workers again and, you know, giving the killer the glory. But in this

case, it was other sex workers. So I don't know really where I was going with that. It's sex workers. It's sex workers killing sex workers. And I wonder if this was different. If this was a group of men killing young women, would this be the same way? It's because Nong Wen Shai was hot. It's the sex appeal to the media. And there's a lot of naked pictures of her online. Yeah. Okay. Thank you for bringing that up because I forgot to mention this. Like, I had to be really. careful with some of the pictures that I selected for YouTube. So cropped a lot. Not only was she just, you know, had all these model-esque pictures.

She also had a bunch of naked pictures she put up. A phone call of her having phone sex with a client or a ex-boyfriend, I'm not sure, was released in full. I believe it was played in court. But it was available online for a while, I read. And people just ate it up. And apparently the murder base. adjoid all the attention as well.

I'm sure some people are going to be like, oh, yeah, this is because they are attractive women, so most of this must have been the doing of men, but surprisingly, it wasn't just men. This was something that went across all demographics. Women were obsessed with looking like them.

Men wanted to be with them. It's just so insane to me because you look at other attractive killers in the media and other countries, and I don't believe it ever had this type of reaction. to it. Now, maybe if the media reacted in the way the Thai media did, maybe we would have viewed it in that light. So maybe that's the problem. Maybe it really showcased people who fetishize killers in general. I don't know. It's really hard because it didn't really get a ton of national attention. Or excuse me, international attention. Got a ton of national attention. But it was very hard to find English translated items. I found a handful for research. There's only one. other YouTube channel that's covered this.

And two podcasts. And two podcasts. And looking for it, it's basically big in Thailand. Myanmar and Laos, I believe, got this, but internationally had to dig for this. How did you come across this originally anyways? I was looking for cases and countries we haven't covered in Asia yet because we just really like covering cases in Asia. And we hadn't done anything in Thailand.

It's true. And this was the big one in Thailand. The big recent one. That's the other thing. This is very recent. Past four or five years. So I also want to give a shout out to Kavitha. She's the other YouTuber that cover this case.

And she does a lot of really interesting cases in Asia that are true crime related. She's a pretty good channel. So check that out. Yes, absolutely. It was nice to have the only other English interpretation of this because finding sources of this in English, it's either we had to run them through Google Translate or we had to deal with what little sources in English there were, but there was enough to really communicate what happened here. And she also did pork bun murders. Yes, she also did the pork bun murders. One of the few people to do

pork bun murders as well. So, yeah, a lot of these cases in Asia, even the really big ones over there have no real English sources over here. People don't really know about them. I think the only reason things like Junco Feruta or the Hello Kitty murders came over here was just because it was so brutal or in the case of Hello Kitty murders because everyone knows who Hello Kitty is. So I think that's why. And then Junco just because it was just so brutal. Didn't you say that on Reddit you found some person who I believe was in Japan who was working on translating a lot of cases that never made it over? Yes, that's correct. Their channel is rather new. Their channel is Kyoto Roboto, K-Y-O-T-O-O-T-O-O, and they cover cases that are. are basically in Japanese only and translating them to English, which I think is really awesome.

So I would check them out too if you're interested in covering more lesser-known Asian cases. Anyway, if you like this episode and you're listening on YouTube, please hit like and subscribe. If you're listening on all other platforms, you can hit that subscribe button. It goes a long way to supporting our podcast. It helps keep us going. It helps grow our channel. It's the best way you can give back to us without having to pay any money. And it ensures that you don't miss a single episode that's coming out.

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