Search for missing mother soldiers on

Juthaporn's mother after submitting a letter of complaint to the prime minister. PHOTO: Thiti Wannamontha

'Would you like to take a day trip with me to the military camp?" So read the text invitation sent by Juthaporn "Aoi" Oun-on, 37, a director at the education division of tambon Cham in Si Sa Ket, to her friend Noi, a restaurant owner living in Baan Phum Sarol in Kantharalak district.

The message, sent on June 29, made clear that Juthaporn wanted somebody to accompany her to the camp. Noi knew that the intention behind the trip was to collect money previously lent to an army captain based at the camp in Ubon Ratchathani.

But Noi declined -- the trip, proposed for July 3, would overlap with her work hours, from 6am to 6pm. She also had to drop off and pick up her daughter from school.

She couldn't have predicted it, but the text exchange was Noi's last interaction with Juthaporn. Her friend never returned home from her trip to the camp.

Juthaporn's family have spent the past two months searching agonisingly for her in hopes that she is still alive.

MONEY TROUBLE

Noi considers herself a close friend of Juthaporn, regularly sharing details of each others' lives. Noi describes her friend as a warm and outgoing person who got along with everybody. Sometimes, however, Noi says, Juthaporn could be too trusting.

The story behind Juthaporn's trip begun at Noi's restaurant Pang Pang, located near the entrance to Khao Pra Wihan National Park. It was here where Juthaporn met army captain Supphachock "Neng" Paso on Nov 3, 2015. He was based at the special military unit in Khao Phra Wihan at the time.

They exchanged phone numbers, Line IDs and Facebook accounts on the first day they met. But Noi knew Juthaporn didn't think of Neng as anything more than a friend. She already had a husband and a daughter who she loved very much.

Noi recalls that somewhere down the line, Juthaporn had lent Capt Supphachock money. She couldn't verify the exact amount, but she said it sounded like a lot.

Early this year, Juthaporn told Noi about a visit she had made to Sanpasit Prasong military camp in Ubon Ratchathani's Warin Chamrap district, where Capt Supphachock had been recently transferred.

"Aoi said that she almost didn't make it out alive from the encounter," said Noi. "She told me she didn't get the money back but she did manage to take Neng's ATM card. She said she was almost attacked by him but she made it out before it could happen."

Her second attempt to get the money back from Capt Supphachock was on July 3. She intended to not only confront the army captain but also report to his superiors in hopes of getting him suspended.

That was what Juthaporn planned to do before she disappeared.

SOMETHING OFF

Juthaporn woke to an ordinary working day. After preparing herself, she got her eight-year-old daughter ready for school, dressing her and making breakfast for her. She drove her child to school before heading to work at the Cham tambon administration organisation. At the office, she told her colleagues to prepare their notes for the afternoon meeting.

She told them she would be out on an errand before the important meeting about the preparation for Buddhist Lent Day, an event her division managed every year.

So Juthaporn was gone for the morning. By midday, she made a phone call her to colleague telling her she wouldn't make it back to the meeting on time. They figured there must be something wrong as Juthaporn never missed any meetings, and certainly not for important events like this.

The meeting was to be attended by the village headman, district chief and other important figures in the district. Juthaporn was known to come to meetings even when sick or busy with family matters. Colleagues tried calling her but she didn't answer her phone.

She didn't return to the office, nor did she arrive on time to pick up her daughter.

Juthaporn always picked up her daughter as her husband worked on a ship and was often at sea.

Juthaporn rents a house in Si Sa Ket town, where her daughter goes to school. However, she would visit her parents' place in the same village on a weekly basis.

She had moved back to work in her hometown five years ago. Previously, she worked as a government official in Lamphun province in the North.

She was happy to be reunited with her family.

TRACK RECORD

Spectrum visited Juthaporn's family in Baan Phum Sarol, Si Sa Ket, to learn more about the case's progress. Buakan Oun-on, Juthaporn's uncle, said he had no clue about his niece's whereabouts but he felt certain she was no longer alive.

keep searching: Juthaporn Oun-on's father holds a sign reading 'Don't protect the bad guy' as a warning to the army to not shield a murder suspect. PHOTO: CHAIYOT YONGCHAROENCHAI

"Juthaporn loves her daughter so much," Mr Buakan said. "Whenever she had a chance, even a 15-minute break from a meeting, she would call her daughter to check in -- no matter where she was. But she didn't do that on the day she left … This is not at all natural behaviour. I believe Juthaporn was killed on the first day she went missing.

"No one knows how much money she lent to [Capt Supphachock] but we can assume it was a large enough sum for him to punish her like this. The police have all the evidence, including her bank statement, car ownership book and more. So right now, the family doesn't know how much money she lent to this guy."

The day after Juthaporn went missing, some of her family members received messages from her Facebook account, saying that she had some things to do so she couldn't return home yet.

Juthaporn also mentioned that there was no reason for her family to worry. She would come home as soon as everything was taken care of, she insisted.

Despite ostensibly sending the online messages, Juthaporn would not answer her phone. A couple days after disappearing, her phone was turned off completely.

The family filed a missing person report with the police. They started by looking into Juthaporn's phone signal, showing she had arrived at the Sanpasit Prasong military camp on the day she went missing. The last time it was active, her phone signal was traced to Nam Yuen district in Ubon Ratchathani, near the Cambodian border.

When Noi learned of the investigation, she told the family what she knew of Capt Supphachock. The police acquired his phone number and checked his phone signal record. His phone signals were found to align with those of Juthaporn's on July 3.

With still no body found, police have refrained from treating the incident as a murder case. Instead, they have focused on issuing and distributing missing person posters in Ubon Ratchathani.

A month after her disappearance was reported, the police found Juthaporn's car parked at a car dealership in Ubon Ratchathani city. But when they checked the documents concerning the car, Capt Supphachock was listed as the new owner.

The captain was called in for interrogation. He denied any involvement with Juthaporn's disappearance, claiming he had no clue as to where she could be.

As for the car, he told police that he had bought it from Juthaporn. She had signed the appropriate documents to transfer ownership to him.

The police found strands of a woman's hair and a type of stain on the passenger seat next to the driver's. Samples of the stain were sent for laboratory testing in August, but the results have yet to be released.

When the media started reporting on the story, spirit mediums flocked to the family home and offered their services. Some insisted Juthaporn was still alive, while some said she was killed. Mr Buakan said these people only aggravated the family's grief.

"I couldn't accept the lies that these mediums told us," Mr Buakan. "Some said she ran away to another country to be with this new guy. Some said she ran away from debt, or that she was busy gambling away at casinos in Cambodia and Laos.

"I know how my niece is and none of these scenarios sound like her. Between her husband and herself, they make more than 100,000 baht a month. Why would she do such things?"

SEEKING CLOSURE

Wittaya Keskaew, the 37-year-old husband of Juthaporn, told Spectrum that he has taken leave from work to spend time searching for his wife and taking care of his daughter. Every day since her mother's disappearance, she asks him where she is.

"I have no idea how or when Juthaporn got involved with Neng but I know that she is a kind person," Mr Wittaya said. "She might have wanted to help this guy out but she didn't know him well enough to know what he was capable of.

"At this point, I'm not sure what to expect. Even though the hope of bringing her back alive has faded, I still hope we have a miracle. I'll continue to search for her, no matter what happens."

The family made a missing person poster that they have distributed around Ubon Ratchathani. Anyone who can offer clues as to Juthaporn's condition or whereabouts will be rewarded with 1 million baht. If her body is found, the family will award 500,000 baht.

"At this point, I'm 100% certain that Juthaporn is dead," Mr Buakan said. "What we really need right now is just for Neng to go to jail for what he did to my niece. We also need to find her body so that we can perform a religious ceremony and send her to heaven."

Capt Supphachock was interrogated three times. After the third time, the police issued an arrest warrant on four offences -- detaining custody of persons against their will, stealing, document counterfeiting and tampering with insurance files to make himself a beneficiary.

The police later added a charge of hacking Juthaporn's phone to reach out to her family. Despite the charges, the captain continues to deny all accusations.

On Monday, a meeting was held between four organisations involved with teacher welfare and local administration in Si Sa Ket to call for Capt Supphachock to be suspended from army services until the investigation has been completed.

A law under the Ministry of Defence dictates that army staff should be suspended if facing charges until the investigation is done. However, the captain remains active at the base.

Pol Col Nipon Boonkerd, the deputy commander of Si Sa Ket Provincial Police heading up the investigation, told Spectrum the police had spoken with Capt Supphachock and collected plenty of evidence.

"I met Capt Supphachock and he appeared positive," said Pol Col Nipon. "He still claims that he had nothing to do with Ms Juthaporn's disappearance. We are still waiting for the DNA results of the stain and hair we found in the car. We are also still looking for Ms Juthaporn in the area where her phone signal was last seen. We are working hard on the case and I'm sure the results of this case will come out soon."

The family have been getting increasingly impatient with the investigation. Mr Buakan says he wants Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to draw attention to the case.

"Don't protect a bad man in the military," said Mr Buakan. "My fear is that Gen Prayut will choose to protect his fellow army man rather than help civilians like us. [Capt Supphachock] should go to jail for what he did to my niece. The police now have overwhelming evidence to arrest Neng but the military still protect him and let him get away with it."

He added: "Even though I didn't get much help from the military, I'd still like to thank the Thai people for helping our family with their financial and emotional support. We are really grateful for your help."