A scorned wife vented her fury by allegedly hiring a hitman to kill her cheating husband.

Devastated wife Charoensri Thongkham, 41, found out her playbpy husband had several girlfriends while they were still together in Surat Thani province.

Charoensri was even more furious after discovering that he would take her money to give to his women but when she confronted him about it, the unfaithful husband would beat her up.

She then allegedly decided to end her marriage and hired a gunman to kill her cheating husband and fled to Bangkok where she was arrested on June 15, around eight years after the suspected murder.

Crime Suppression Division Commander Police Major General Phutthidej Boonkraphue said: ‘The wife was arrested in front of Na Suksabai Thai traditional massage shop in Bangkok's Bang Khen district.

‘She was wanted on an arrest warrant issued in 2014 by the Chaiya Disitrict Court in Surat Thani province.'

The wife allegedly paid 100,000 baht (2,320 GBP) to the gunman to kill her husband. The hired hitman stole a gold necklace the husband was wearing as well as his gun.

When her husband died, Charoensri was found to be a suspect in the investigations and was issued with an arrest warrant but she fled to another province to hide. Police tracked her down eight years later in the Thai capital working as a masseuse.

Speaking with the police, Charoensri said that she ‘had to kill her husband before he could kill her'.

She said: ‘I had to kill my husband before he could kill me. Whenever we had arguments, he would hit me. I loved him but I was afraid of him because he always carried a gun.'

Charoensri was charged with plotting murder, theft of the gold necklace that the hitman had stolen, and violation of the Firearms Act.

Police Major General Phutthidej added: ‘She will be detained while following legal process.'