Jindarat Prutsiriporn was 23 when she followed her boyfriend to New Zealand in 1989, settling in Auckland. Photo / Facebook
Bound and gagged in the boot of a moving car, Jindarat
Prutsiriporn must have been truly terrified to make her fatal bid for
freedom.
The secret life of the 50-year-old had finally unravelled to a tragic end.
A
mother of three, Prutsiriporn should be enjoying middle age after
moving to New Zealand for a more peaceful life nearly 30 years ago.
Instead, a drug addiction led the Thai national into spiralling debt and saw her entrapped in the world of organised crime.
Jindarat Prutsiriporn. Photo / Supplied "I was also shocked to see ... she had become very
skinny, like a different person," said a friend, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.She died poor and lonely, apparently after throwing herself from the vehicle.
Now,
a major police investigation is delving into Auckland's criminal
underworld to find out what happened to the woman known as "Nui".
Hope for a fresh start
Born in December 1965, Prutsiriporn was the third of four children (she has two brothers and a sister) born in Thailand.
Her
parents separated when she was 8 and Prutsiriporn went to live with her
father who had "a succession of girlfriends", according to court
documents.
She was 23 when she followed her boyfriend to New Zealand in 1989, settling in Auckland.
"Nui
jumped at the opportunity to move to New Zealand hoping for a better
life because she didn't have much going for her in Thailand," said
another friend.
"But unfortunately, when she got here, she became involved with bad company and people who introduced her to drugs."
Prutsiriporn
smoked cannabis every day and eventually split with her partner, the
father of her three sons, in 2002. She worked at Eve's Pantry on Epsom
Rd for around 10 years, until her daily cannabis habit led to a darker
path in 2009 - methamphetamine.
