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Solved case · 2008
The short answer
Hanna Charlotta Bäcklund, a 27-year-old Swedish tourist, was stabbed to death on Mai Khao Beach in northern Phuket in March 2008. Akkaradej "Chon" Tankae was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Suggest coverage for Murder of Hanna Charlotta BäcklundThe case file
Hanna Charlotta Bäcklund, a 27-year-old Swedish woman, was killed on the afternoon of March 14, 2008, on Mai Khao beach at the northern tip of Phuket, Thailand. On the day of her death, Bäcklund asked a travel companion to join her for a walk on the beach, but the companion remained at the grounds of a hotel where the two had been camping in a tent. When Bäcklund did not return, her companion went looking for her and discovered her body in the sand.
According to the account of her death, Bäcklund was attacked and fought back before being stabbed in the neck. She also had apparent knife wounds on her body and her left hand. Police expressed concern that any physical clues left in the sand may have been washed away by waves, complicating the investigation.
On March 18, 2008, Thai police issued a warrant for the arrest of a 31-year-old man, identified as Akaradet Thatchai Tankay (also referred to as Akkaradej "Chon" Tankae in some accounts), described as a Moken sea gypsy working as a pool cleaner and gardener in the area. Police stated they had received prior reports of the suspect's tendency to spy on female tourists on the beach, and they believed he had fled toward the Chumphon region of Thailand.
Later on the night of March 18, 2008, police arrested the suspect in the Kraburi district of Ranong province, with the assistance of his father and other relatives, after he reportedly made contact with them from Burma expressing a desire to surrender. It was reported that he admitted to stabbing and killing Bäcklund after attempting to rape her.
On August 25, 2008, the Phuket Provincial Court sentenced Akkaradej Tankae to life imprisonment for Bäcklund's murder. Contemporaneous reports said the sentence was reduced from death to life imprisonment because he made a full confession.
3 dated entries · 2008
Hanna Charlotta Bäcklund is attacked and killed on Mai Khao beach, northern Phuket, Thailand; her body is found by her travel companion after she failed to return from a walk.
Thai police issue an arrest warrant for a 31-year-old suspect, a Moken sea gypsy working as a pool cleaner and gardener, believed to have fled to the Chumphon region.
Police arrest the suspect at Kraburi district, Ranong province, with assistance from his father and relatives, after he made contact from Burma expressing a wish to surrender; he reportedly admitted to stabbing and killing Bäcklund after failing to rape her.
2 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
27-year-old Swedish tourist killed on Mai Khao beach, Phuket, Thailand, on March 14, 2008.[3]
Convicted by the Phuket Provincial Court on 25 August 2008 of murdering Hanna Charlotta Bäcklund; sentenced to life imprisonment, commuted from a possible death sentence because he had confessed.[3]
From the record
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
PressAftonbladetAccessed Jul 11, 2026
PressPhuket Gazette (via The Thaiger)Accessed Jul 11, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 10, 2026
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