THE Thai wife of Chippenham man Toby Charnaud went on trial on Monday accused of his murder.

It is almost a year since the 40-year-old bar owner, vanished from his home in the golf resort of Hua Hin in Thailand.

Six weeks later his charred remains were found on land owned by his estranged wife Pananda. A knife with blood and hair on it was also found in her car.

The couple's son, Daniel, then five, came to Britain after his father's death and now lives with his aunt Hannah Allen in Stanton St Quintin.

Mr Charnaud's family, who live in West Kington, say their former daughter-in-law could face the death penalty if she is found guilty of premeditated murder.

She has only admitted non-premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence.

Mr Charnaud's father Jeremy said he had mixed feelings about the possibility that Pananda could be executed.

"It's very, very hard," he said. "It might be easier for Daniel if he didn't have a mother hanging about in a Thai jail for 30 years. It's such a difficult, horrible thing. From Daniel's point of view it might tidy his life up. But I don't know what he would think about us if we were in favour of execution."

Globetrotter Toby Charnaud met Pananda while on holiday. They married in 1997 and lived in West Kington for two years, where they were partners in the family farm.

In 1999 they moved to Thailand to run two Western-style beach bars.

Mrs Charnaud was arrested on suspicion of murder just days after the body was found, and has been in custody ever since.

She will appear alongside two other defendants charged with murder, and a further two accused of being accomplices. The prosecution case is expected to last until today and the defence case will follow next week.

Mr Charnaud and his wife Sarah are being kept informed of the progress of the trial, and understand a verdict could be reached by the end of March.