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| Published in Washington, D.C. September 17, 2000 |
Plots, poison and passion enliven Thai scandal
By Richard S. Ehrlich
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BANGKOK, Thailand
The mystery of a double poisoning, the corpses of two princes, a palace stuffed with valuables, a purported "sex machine," and a group of rival wives is enthralling Thailand with a real-life soap opera of who-done-it intrigue.
Consider the clues:
-- Prince Bhanubhandh Yugala, 85, died from blood poisoning in February 1995.
-- Later that year, his son, Prince Thitipan Yugala, was discovered slumped over after sipping poison added to a cup of coffee in the family's Bangkok palace.
-- Minutes later, the fatally stricken prince's chubby 25-year-old wife fled the palace with her 19-year-old lover, a chestnut seller.
-- The adulterous widow initially confessed to the murder, but later recanted, claiming she didn't put insecticide in the prince's coffee on that fateful August morning in 1995.
-- Two "common-law wives" of the younger prince are claiming his estate.
In the latest twist, on Sept. 4, estate executors began appraising the antiques, furniture, art, household goods and various collectibles inside Aswin Palace, so a grand sale of the items can be held.
Proceeds from the estate -- estimated at more than 500,000 US dollars -- will be divvied up among claimants.
But not so fast, warns the two-timing widow, who is on trial facing a possible death sentence for the murder of the younger prince.
The former wife, Chalasai Yugala, is popularly known by the affectionate nickname, "Luk Pla," or Baby Fish. She also was titled, "Mom," an honorific for female royalty in Thailand.
But the story of how she got her nickname, and noble status, has broken the hearts of Thai society.
The princess, dumped by her parents at the age of 4, and adopted into the two princes' wealthy family as their servant.
At 14, she became a sex object for the coffee-drinking prince, who was 49 at the time.
"As if in a feudal age, Luk Pla was raped in her early teens by her adoptive father and master, Prince Thitipan, and thereafter was kept as his sex slave," the Bangkok Post reported shortly after her arrest.
"Dark and stocky, Luk Pla is not pretty by Thai standards. The prince, never shy about discussing his sex life, made her come across as a sex machine," added Bangkok Post Assistant Editor Sanitsuda Ekachai.
"When the prince announced his marriage to her, the high society bluebloods cringed to count her an equal. When the prince died from poisoning, all fingers pointed initially at Luk Pla, assuming she did it for money and better sex with her (new) lover," Sanitsuda added.
When the princess's years as a sex object first became known, Thai feminists, at least two parliamentarians and the public began to sympathize with her.
They perceived her plight as a class struggle against rich, sexist members of high society.
At the time of the murder, the princess was married to the 60-year-old Prince Thitipan, who was endearingly nicknamed, "Than Kob," or Frog. In 1996, one year after his death, she remarried her impoverished lover.
Prosecutors said the princess admitted to Than Kob's murder after being strapped to a lie detector in 1997.
She later retracted her confession and told reporters the same year: "I did not poison Prince Thitipan. I confessed on that day because of stress" during the interrogation.
The father-and-son princes were not in line to become Thailand's monarchs, because they were mere cousins in an extended royal family. Many years ago, Thailand's kings reportedly were polygamous, resulting in about 100 lesser princes and princesses.
But the case attracted widespread fascination throughout Thailand because the nation has a tradition of men juggling a bevy of "minor wives," or concubines -- sometimes successfully if the man's money holds out. But often, such arrangements end in betrayal when jealousy and cash flows become entangled.
Just before the younger prince swallowed his poisoned Arabica, estate arbitrators had ruled he could inherit his father's palace.
But the potion killed him before the ruling was legally executed, though he lay in a coma for eight days at a hospital before dying.
As a result, the palace remained in his father's estate, while lawyers wrestled with conflicting claims.
After two years of analyzing the insecticide, various motives, other clues and testimony, police accused the princess of poisoning her husband.
In addition to her disputed confession, suspicion increased because the princess purportedly failed to bring her stricken husband to a hospital for several hours after he first began gagging and frothing from the fatal java. The princess's trial continues, and she vows to clear her name.