In one of Thailand's most chilling crimes in recent times, a drug-addicted teenager has confessed to killing his brother and eating his liver with chilli and sticky rice.
The teenager has been banished from his village after he declared the feast 'delicious' and said he had acquired a taste for more human flesh. The crime has sent the more lurid Thai newspapers into a frenzy, evoking comparisons to movie ghoul Hannibal Lecter and real-life cannibal Si Ouey.
Si Ouey is the Chinese army regular who migrated to Thailand and was put to death in the 1960s after a grisly spree in which he murdered at least half a dozen young girls so he could feast on their hearts and livers. His mummified, grease-covered corpse is on display in Bangkok's Forensic Museum.
Suriya Phosaeng, 19, who has been dubbed 'the modern Si Ouey', hails from Ban Kud Dhon in the Khon Sawan district of north-eastern Chaiyaphum province. Police have detained him pending a psychological examination.
Khon Sawan police inspector Chalerm Ruecha said he suspected Suriya was mentally ill, or that his addiction to methamphetamine had addled his brain.
Police will break with tradition and not force Suriya to re-enact the crime amid fears he will be lynched by villagers.
