Police will soon issue an arrest warrant for Phakhinai Janwiman, a Novotel Hotel chauffeur suspected of being behind the disappearance of Sukanda Mekloy after he drove her to deposit the money at a Siam Commercial Bank branch in the Nong Bon area of Bangkok's Prawet district.

In the warrant, expected on Monday, Phakhinai, a former border patrol policeman, will be charged with premeditated murder and "forceful theft" for the death of the victim, 27, and the disappearance of the money.

Sukanda's body was found in an isolated weedy pond in a small alley in Soi 7 off Chalerm Phra Kiat Road, not far from the bank. Citing an initial estimation, police said she could have been killed not long after she disappeared. Her body was still in her hotel uniform.

Bang Na police carried out a search in a 10-kilometre radius from the hotel, located near Wat Sri Iam junction, where Sri Nakharin Road meets with Bang Na-Trat Highway, but found nothing initially.

Police will soon receive test results on blood stains found in the car in which Phakhinai drove Sukanda to the bank, to determine whether it was her blood.

According to witnesses, Phakhinai's shirt was "wet and stained with blood" not long after he dropped her off at the bank.