Every Thai child grew up hearing the warning:
“If you misbehave, Si Quey will come. And he’ll eat your liver.”

For decades, Si Quey Sae-Ung was more than a name — he was Thailand’s bogeyman. A poor migrant from China accused of murdering children, condemned as a cannibal, and executed in 1959. His body was embalmed and displayed in a glass case at Siriraj Hospital for over sixty years, a permanent reminder that monsters walk among us.

But was Si Quey truly a killer who ate the organs of his victims? Or was he a scapegoat, caught in the fear and prejudice of Cold War–era Thailand?

In this episode, we step into the shadows of a story where fact and folklore blur. From the arrest in Rayong, to lurid tabloid headlines, to the museum case that turned him into a cultural warning for generations of Thai children — and finally, to the quiet cremation in 2020 that forced the country to reconsider the myth.

Some truths remain certain. Others remain disputed. And the warning still echoes today.

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Sources for this episode include: Bangkok Post, Thai PBS, Khaosod English, Coconuts Bangkok, Associated Press, and South China Morning Post.

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