Foetus gold-leafed and made into a Goomarn Thong icon (courtesy Bangkok Post)

Here at WoWasis, we’ve always been fascinated by the statues and images found on the ‘hing,’ or altar, found in many Thai houses and businesses. Goomarn Thong is one of these, representing a dead baby.

On May 28, the Bangkok Post reported that a man has been jailed for gold-leafing six dead foetuses, transforming them into Goomarn Thong icons that he was intending to sell for a considerable amount of money. Here’s the story:

There appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary when police questioned Briton Choe Hok Kuen, 28, in Bangkok in his hotel room after guests on the same floor had complained about babies crying in his room. Six human foetuses, roasted and wrapped in gold leaf, were seized from the room of suspect Choe Hok Kuen in Yaowarat. The foetuses were intended for sale online as talismans.

But after they opened his luggage they knew this was no ordinary case. Inside they found six foetuses wrapped in gold leaf and tied with religious threads. According to police investigators, Mr Choe, a British passport holder of Taiwanese descent, had flown into Thailand to pick up the foetuses. The discovery opened the doors to a world of black magic that police officers found hard to fathom.  “I believe it’s the world’s first body snatcher bust involving the commercial trade in foetuses,” said Pol Col Wiwat Kamchamnan, inspector with the Children and Women Protection Sub-division of the Royal Thai Police.

Some believe the foetuses can boost their fortunes in business and commerce. Demand for foetuses in China has soared in recent years, according to the sub-division. Before the suspect was arrested on May 18, guests at a hotel in the Yaowarat area alerted Plabpachai police claiming they had heard ghostly sounds of babies crying from Room 301. Police went into the room and found no babies and the hotel guest was out. Pol Col Wiwat said his team from the sub-division visited the room some hours later and met Mr Choe. A thorough search of the room turned up no babies. The investigators searched his shoulder bag and found a hotel room key from a nearby hotel.

Police went to the room and discovered foetueses which had been ‘immortalized’ into kumarn thong (baby charms) stuffed inside a suitcase. “The corpses were confiscated and forensic examinations confirmed they were human bodies,” he said. They arrested Mr Choe. Investigators with the sub-division said the foetuses had been obtained from abortion clinics, put over fire to dehydrate them, embalmed and scribbled with what appear to be ancient Khmer script. They were also covered in gold leaf. The inscribed corpses were then acquired by a middleman who sold them to Mr Choe.

Pol Col Wiwat said Mr Choe is the self-professed leading master of witchcraft in East Asia, with his own website that advertises his services of black magic and divination. Mr Choe also wears amulets of Mae Nak Phra Khanong and Khun Paen around his neck. Mae Nak Phra Khanong is a legendary ghost from folklore in which the central character died in labour. Khun Phaen is a romancer in a popular Thai literary work, Khun Chang Khun Phaen. The amulets are believed to provide their wearers with supernatural prowess to succeed in business and love.  Mr Choe allegedly practices black magic and uses the foetuses in performing his rituals. He also sells some of the foetuses, police said. Police said Mr Choe has traveled to Thailand 16 times since 2007 and he may have bought many more kumarn thong on earlier trips. Police said Mr Choe admitted he planned to sell the kumarn thong to Chinese businessmen. He sold one for 30 million baht once. Perfectly shaped and well-preserved foetuses would fetch the highest prices, said Pol Col Wiwat. Mr Choe was charged with concealing human corpses, punishable by up to a year in jail and a 2,000 baht fine. Pol Col Wiwat expanded the investigation and nabbed another Taiwanese man, Kun Ye Chen, 32, who had allegedly supplied the kumarn thong to Mr Choe. Police say Mr Choe told them he had bought the kumarn thong from Kun for 200,000 baht. He knew Mr Kun from a go-between who lives overseas. Police have not charged Mr Kun as they consider him a mere courier in the racket.  Pol Col Wiwat said the corpses were probably obtained from abortion clinics. Police and the Public Health Ministry are trying to identify the clinics thought to have provided the foetuses.