14 Suspicious  Deaths : Inside the two-year investigation into Thailand’s cyanide murders

At first, even the investigation went down the wrong path: Koy’s family suspected a former boyfriend, Navin, who had allegedly threatened her. Closed-circuit television footage eventually revealed that the person with Koy before her death was a woman.

Our own breakthrough came after independent investigator Rapee — a friend of Koy who refused to accept that a healthy 32-year-old had simply died of heart failure — appealed publicly for information.

His phone began ringing nonstop as families across Thailand told similar stories: sudden deaths, missing money and a connection to money-sharing circles. Meeting those families was the hardest part. Their grief was still raw.

Koy’s mother remembered waiting in vain for her daughter to return and take her shopping. One husband discovered, through a video call, that his wife was unresponsive at home with their children there.

Then there was Pla, the survivor who said Aem tried to kill her twice, yet she initially suspected nothing because she regarded Aem as family.

What stayed with me was how ordinary it all appeared. Sharing circles have existed for generations, built on friendship and trust. But today, online groups and instant bank transfers — plus misplaced trust — allow money to move with ease.

Perhaps the most unsettling moment came when I finally saw Aem at a court hearing. She looked like someone who could pass unnoticed on the street. Then she turned and locked eyes with me for what felt like an age.

Death Loans: Thailand’s Cyanide Murders tells how friendship, money and trust became entangled in one of Thailand’s most extraordinary criminal cases. And there is more to come: a TikTok series on Rapee’s investigation and a podcast featuring Pla’s account.

Dean Johnson

Executive Producer, Death Loans)