A British citizen has been arrested in Bangkok after six foetuses were
found stuffed into travel bags. Hok Kuen Chow, 28, a Briton born in Hong
Kong of Taiwanese parents, was held in the city’s Yaowarat area after
police received a tip-off.
He is suspected of trying to smuggle
the foetuses – from two to seven months – back to Taiwan to sell to
wealthy customers online.
Chow has reportedly admitted buying the
bodies, which had been roasted dry and painted in gold leaf, for
200,000 baht (£4,040).
Back in Taiwan he could have sold them for
six times that amount to rich clients who believe the foetuses will
bring them good fortune. ‘The bodies are between the ages of two and
seven months,’ said Wiwat Kumchumnan, of the police’s children and women
protection unit.
‘Chow said he planned to sell the foetuses to
clients who believe they will make them lucky and rich. ‘Some were found
covered in gold leaf.’
Police said the bodies also had a variety
of religious decoration and tattoos on them.
It was not clear
yesterday where the bodies, which had been stored in six travel bags,
came from or who had handed them over to Chow.
Thai police arrest
man with babies
It is possible they had undergone the grisly
Thai practice ‘Kuman Thong’, in which unwanted babies are surgically
removed from their mother’s womb before being subjected to a ceremonial
ritual.
Instead of being buried, the bodies are roasted dry and
covered with a lacquer before being painted with gold leaf.
Chow,
who was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of human remains,
was staying at a hotel in a backpacker area in Bangkok when he was
detained.
Police had received a tip-off that foetus corpses were
being offered to wealthy clients through a website advertising black
magic services. Black magic rituals are still practised in Thailand,
where street-side fortune tellers offer ceremonies to reverse bad luck.
Chow
faces one year in prison and a 2,000 baht (£40) fine if he is found
guilty.
In November 2010, health inspectors found 2,000 foetuses
on a building site by a monastery in Bangkok which had been illegally
aborted.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office yesterday confirmed
it was on stand-by following the arrest.
A spokesman said: ‘We
can confirm the arrest of a British national in Bangkok on May 18. ‘We
stand ready to provide consular assistance.’
What a bizarre,
cruel and unbelievable religious practice. You can’t make this shit up!
Teh Stupid is alive and well in Taiwan.

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