Bigley wife has renewed hope

The Thai wife of hostage Ken Bigley said video footage of Mr Bigley released yesterday boosted her hopes of seeing her husband alive again.

“After I saw him on television my hope is rising up to 70% to 80%," Sombat Bigley said.

The emotional 35-year-old said she talked at the television urging the engineer to “be strong” adding “I will wait for you”, as the distressing images were broadcast.

It also emerged that a day before his capture, Mr Bigley called his wife to say he had reserved a Bangkok hotel room for the couple for today, when he planned to return.

“We were supposed to meet today, but I only saw him on television in such a situation. So sad,” she said.