Ancient Chinese medicine (even till today) have always believed that consuming similar organs could replenish your own organ's healing power. Brains, hearts, livers - essentially everything from head to toe - are thought to contain regenerative power that could help heal the body if consumed. In practice, this belief is generally applied to eating animal organs, yet there are people who went to extremes to consume human organs.

“Don’t misbehave, or Si Quey will find you and eat you.” For decades in Thailand, parents have used the story of a terrifying child-eating cannibal to keep children in line, but this monster is not make-believe. This bogeyman is real.

Source: BangkokPost


Si Quey, known as the real-life Hannibal, was Thailand’s first convicted serial killer. He was executed for killing six children…and consuming their organs.

In 1958, Bangkok police were on the case of a missing 8-year-old boy. While searching for him, the boy’s father discovered Si Quey, a 32-year-old manual laborer and gardener, preparing to burn a brush pile. To his horror, he saw the body of his son beneath the leaves.

Police were summoned but were not prepared for what they found. The boy had been disemboweled. Autopsy revealed that the body was missing its liver.

During interrogation, Si Quey confessed to murdering five other children as well, all of whom had been reported missing. Police records reveal he confessed to removing, boiling, and eating organs from each child.

When the macabre story hit national news, reporters went digging into Si Quey’s past. The narrative began when Si Quey, who was still a sickly young lad in his hometown, China, bumped into a priest who warned him that he would not live beyond thirty years old, given his poor condition. The only way to extend his life - the priest claimed - was to consume human livers. Several articles suggested that Si Quey developed his taste for human flesh during his military service. He had served as a Chinese soldier in WWII, when his commander apparently ordered his men to consume the livers of the men they killed.

                                                                    Source: ViralPress


Varying slightly from the sensational headlines, official records state that Si Quey and other soldiers were forced to consume fellow fallen soldiers when food supplies ran out during a long siege. It’s unclear which version, if either, is true.

After a brief imprisonment, Si Quey was executed by firing squad in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1959. Because of the extreme nature of the crimes, a medical research scientist requested permission to preserve and study Si Quey’s brain after his death.

The scientist, who worked for Siriraj Hospital, wanted to see if any physical abnormalities in the brain could explain Si Quey’s behavior. The hospital claimed the body and, after autopsy, preserved the corpse by embalming it in paraffin.

Source: ViralPress


At the time, Siriraj Hospital also operated a medical museum that attracted visitors with displays of medical anomalies and forensic evidence from notorious crimes. It was known as “The Museum of Death.” For six decades, Si-Quey had been "punished" by displaying his preserved body sealed in a glass display case and added to the museum’s collection. The information label on the case read “Si Quey, Cannibal.”

Finally, the tide of public opinion in Thailand began to shift. The museum’s graphic displays drew criticism as tasteless and insensitive.

This happened when several documentaries undermined the validity of Si Quey’s original confession, suggesting he may have been manipulated or forced into confessing. After all, as the documentaries pointed out, Si Quey was a near-illiterate immigrant who barely spoke Thai. At the time, anti-Chinese sentiment was running high in Thailand. It’s unclear whether Si Quey was provided an unbiased translator. Other discrepancies between police reports emerged, as well.

Four of the bodies with missing organs and other mutilations had been found in a distant province. As an impoverished manual laborer, it would have been difficult for Si Quey to travel the necessary distances without attracting notice.

Though Si Quey confessed to the murders, throughout his trial he denied all charges of cannibalism. This conflicts with the apparent confessions submitted to official record. In addition, the body of one of the victims Si Quey confessed to eating still contained all its organs, suggesting that at least part of his confession was false. What about the rest? Si Quey’s former employers maintained his innocence, too.

Even more compelling was the evidence that the child killings continued for several years after Si Quey’s execution. Perhaps the real cannibal was still roaming free when Si Quey was shot. Perhaps he was only responsible for one murder, not six. Time has eroded what little evidence existed.

If Si Quey was, in fact, a scapegoat, this made the display of his cadaver in the Siriraj Medical Museum all the more morally repugnant. In 2016, public petitions calling for a proper funeral for Si Quey began to circulate.

                                                              Source: ViralPress

In July of 2020, after 62 years on display, Si Quey was given a Buddhist funeral and his body removed from display and cremated.

In Zee-Oui (“The Man Eater”), a 2004 horror film based on Si Quey’s life, the main actor who played Si Quey was said to have been constantly haunted by apparitions while filming. Perhaps it was just another publicity stunt, but many believed it was Si Quey's way of protesting his innocence. When Si Quey's body was finally laid to rest, Duan Long- the main actor from mainland -flew to Thailand to offer his final respects. 

The story of Si Quey was shrouded with religious, healing superstitions that was extremely common in Asian culture, especially in ancient China. Many innocent lives had been lost due to such superstitious practices, and that was inspired me to feature some heart-eating and extraction of human organs in my upcoming stories from The Horror Wedding Series - Book 3. The stories are titled "Child Bride" and "The Ghost of Meng".  Looking forward to roll out these stories soon!

References

Bangkok Post Public Company Limited. (2020, December 27). Si Quey, Thailand’s most notorious serial killer. Https://Www.Bangkokpost.Com. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2041695/si-quey-thailands-most-notorious-serial-killer

Boyle, G. (2020, July 21). Serial killer Si Quey to be cremated, 60 years after execution. The Stringer. https://thestringernews.com/2020/07/22/serial-killer-si-quey-to-be-cremated-60-years-after-execution/

Cooney, C. (2020, July 23). Body of cannibal who killed and ate seven children is cremated 62 years on after corpse was displayed in. . . The Sun. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12204374/body-cannibal-killed-ate-children-cremated-years-corpse-museum/

Culbertson, A. (2020, July 23). Thailand: Child serial killer Si Quey's body cremated after 60 years on public display. Sky News. https://news.sky.com/story/thailand-child-serial-killer-si-queys-body-cremated-after-60-years-on-public-display-12034866

Hintz, C. (2020, July 26). Si Quey, The Cannibal Bogeyman of Bangkok Who Eats Children. Cult of Weird. https://www.cultofweird.com/crime/si-quey-thailand-cannibal/

Krausz, T. (2019, June 19). Could serial child killer and cannibal Si Quey, bogeyman for Thai children, have been an innocent scapegoat? South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3014200/could-serial-child-killer-and-cannibal-si-quey-bogeyman

NewsFlare. (2020, July 23). Thai cannibal Si Quey finally cremated six decades after gruesome crimes. Yahoo News. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/thai-cannibal-si-quey-finally-080000720.html

UCA News reporter, Bangkok. (2020, July 23). Cannibal killer’ Si Quey cremated in Thailand. Ucanews.Com. https://www.ucanews.com/news/cannibal-killer-si-quey-cremated-in-thailand/88878#