Police hunt 'disgruntled former worker' over murder of Thai tennis star
Police are hunting a disgruntled former worker over the suspected murder of a Thai tennis star found dead in his luxury bed.
Burmese employee Zaw Thet Lwin, 29, had been working for his Thai boss Nattavee Sukantarun, 64, when he was fired around two weeks ago.
The sacked worker was said to have attacked Nattavee with a knife before fleeing the residence in resort town Pattaya in eastern Thailand.
Officers discovered the tennis icon's body on July 26, after worried relatives said he became unreachable by phone.
He had blood on his body and a deep wound to his left elbow. A 12-inch-long kitchen knife measuring about one foot (30.5cm) long was found near the ornate upholstered headboard.
Police said the Burmese man has been identified as the main suspect after he received a 37,500-baht wire transfer from Nattavee's account at around the time of the Thai man's death.
Footage has also emerged of him leaving the premises just hours before the grim discovery.
Video showed Zaw at the alleged victim's home at around 4:35 am on July 26 before riding away on a motorcycle two minutes later.
Police traced his route to his rented room around 6.2 miles (10 kilometres) from the crime scene.
More CCTV footage showed him changing his clothes and collecting his belongings before leaving at around 5:05 am.
Police Major General Chokchai Ngamwong, deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 2, said the Pattaya Provincial Court has issued an arrest warrant for Zaw over 'intentional murder'.
He added: 'Our investigation found that the suspect entered Thailand in May 2024 and had registered addresses in Rayong and Chonburi provinces, but officers found no trace of him when they checked those locations.
'We have since established that he was recently seen in Mae Sot district in Tak province, and our teams are actively pursuing him.'
Nattavee was a former member of Thailand's national beach tennis team, the owner of a sports club featuring tennis, badminton and pickleball courts, and a respected tennis coach and talent scout.
He also represented Thailand at the 2017 ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championship in Moscow, Russia, where the national team finished 18th in the world.
