THE THAI wife of a prominent Japanese citizen who lived on Phuket confessed tonight to a murder that included an unusual ''funeral pyre'' . . . a red-plate saloon car that was set alight, with her husband's body inside.

The accused woman ran Tuptim's Car Care in Vichit, in southern Phuket.

The most irregularl aspect of the case: the ages of the key people involved. The accused murderess is 42, her dead husband was aged 75, and her boyfriend, now being hunted by police, is a mere 21.

The hunt is also on for a second young man, whom police believe helped commit the murder, with its unusual sequel.

Police said that Tuptim Saehup confessed today to the killing of her Japanese husband, Yukiho Yamada. He was a regular golfing partner of the president of the Phuket Japanese Association, Kazushi Miyashita.

In the manner of explanation preferred by police in Thailand, Khun Tuptim was presented to the media tonight at Chalong police station, in southern Phuket.

She showed off green fingernails and wore a black and white striped top, but at no stage allowed the media to see her face.

Her tale, told mostly with her hands covering her head, was of a marriage gone wrong. She said she married her husband on the eigth of August, 2008 (08.08.08) which would have been considered an extremely propitious date.

The couple stayed together, she said, for three or four months, then she moved out of his Chalong home to her own place at Vichit, near her car care business.

She said her husband brought young women to the house constantly, embarrassing her and causing loss of face.

Mr Yamada's 08.08.08 good fortune ran out on Tuesday night, about midnight, when his wife's boyfriend, Wisood Mensri, and a male friend used an iron bar to beat him to death, she told the media.

The killing of Mr Yamada came to public notice when a car, recorded as being owned by his wife, was set alight about 4.20am today, with his body inside.

Water tanker workers called to put out the suspicious blaze only realised the seriousness of the car fire when the inferno was extinguished . . . and Mr Yamada's scant remains were found in the front passenger seat.

It was a simple job for police to trace her ownership of the car from the engine number and quickly determine her marital status, identifying her husband from dental records.

Mr Yamada's house had been thoroughly cleaned, but there was blood on one wall. A local police forensic scientist was able to identify what remained of Mr Yamada after the fire.

''I planned the murder,'' his wife said tonight. ''But my boyfriend actually did the killing.''

All of Phuket's senior police were present, along with Region 8 police chief Pitak Jarusombat, who had flown to Phuket from Surat Thani by helicopter to hear tonight's confession.