A wife said she was shocked when she found the skeleton of her missing husband buried in a pit in their home in Thailand.

Tawee Pekrathok, 60, claimed that was cleaning the disused septic tank at the back of her property in Nakhon Ratchasima on September 1.

As she was digging up dirt and weeds, she stumbled upon bone fragments but initially brushed them off.

Tawee continued digging before finding a skull and an old shirt which belonged to her philandering late husband Serng, 65.

Convinced the human remains were her missing spouse, she called the police to investigate.

Officers arrived to collect the skeleton and question the horrified wife.

A police spokesman said: 'We have sent the skeleton to the forensic department of Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital to determine the identity and cause of death, and to confirm whether it is the missing husband.'

Tawee said the family had filed a missing person report after Serng vanished in 2022.

She said: 'My husband disappeared and no one knew where he went.

‘I heard rumours from locals that he found a new wife and they were seen at the market, so I thought he had run away.

‘I decided not to look for him anymore. I thought he was still alive until I discovered this skeleton.'

She added that Serng frequently drank alcohol and might have tumbled into the septic tank while inebriated.

The family said they had detected a foul smell around the time the husband disappeared but dismissed it as organic fertiliser they frequently used at home.