A jealous wife stabbed her husband over suspicions that his chronically dry mouth was allegedly from oral sex with his mistress.

Paranoid spouse Samai, 60, plunged the blade into her husband Boonchan, 65, after he returned to their home with a violent coughing fit in Trat, Thailand, on April 19.

The man was said to have been drinking water from the fridge to soothe his throat when she accused him of infidelity, claiming he was coughing because he was choking on strands of another woman's pubic hair.

Boonchan was said to have flown into a rage at the charge, and began destroying items, including the couple's refrigerator in a violent rampage, prompting Samai to stab him 'in self defense'.

Despite the two-inch wound in his stomach, Boonchan managed to hobble to his neighbour's home to call for help.

Police and medics arrived at the scene after receiving a report at 7:30 pm. They found Boonchan bleeding as he nursed the stab wound to his abdomen. He was rushed to the Trat Hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition.

Samai was found waiting calmly outside the house to be questioned. She later handed over the small kitchen knife she used to the police.

She said: 'My husband often comes home late at night, and I started to suspect he was having an affair.

'Every time he came back, he'd cough loudly like he had a hair stuck in his throat, then he would drink several glasses of water. So I know what he had been doing.

'Today, while he was drinking again, I confronted him about it. He became angry and started smashing things. I was scared that he would hurt me so I grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him once in self-defense.'

Police Major Sombat Kaewmoolmook of the Mueang Trat Police Station said: 'We have inspected the scene, and this case appeared to be a marital quarrel rather than attempted murder.

‘No charges have been filed and the husband also said he did not plan to press charges.

‘We will have to wait for a thorough interrogation before deciding on charges. It seemed like a family matter, because they fought regularly even before this stabbing happened.'