A U.S. couple was shot dead in Thailand’s Nongkhai province across the Mekong river from Laos. Thai police say they have no motive and have made no arrest.
The victims’ documents found in their rented van suggest that the couple were descendants of a line of Lao royalties. A Lao Embassy official in Bangkok denies his government was linked to the murder.
49-year old Anouvong Sethathirath IV and his 38-year old wife, Oulayvanh Sethathirath, had lived in Fairview, North Carolina. They were in Thailand to participate in a seminar to preserve the Lan Xang culture which they hosted on Jan. 11-12, 2006, in Udon Thani, Thailand.
The couple was visiting a temple in Nongkhai when two gunmen approached them and opened fire, killing both.
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