Corrections Dept chief rejects foul play in prisoner's death
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Early autopsy finding: internal bleeding
An autopsy on a man accused of killing a protest leader during a rally against the Yingluck Shinawatra government early this year showed he had gastrointestinal bleeding and thrombocytopenia, a doctor said yesterday.
The Corrections Department said on Friday that Surakrit Chaimongkol succumbed to illness while being held at Bangkok Remand Prison.
Surakrit was remanded over charges that he fatally shot Sutin Taratin in Bang Na in Bangkok in January while the victim was leading a rally to try to stop advance voting at a polling station.
Aree Chaimongkol, Surakrit’s mother, had requested Dr Salaktham Tochirakarn, of the Police General Hospital, jointly conduct the post-mortem on her son’s body at the hospital’s Institute of Forensic Medicine yesterday.
She said she did not believe her son had diabetes because he was young and strong. The Department of Corrections said a preliminary finding by doctors had determined Surakrit had diabetes.
Aree believed he died mysteriously, as he had told her he was the target of an attack.
She called on relevant agencies to investigate his death. She said she would not cremate his body until the truth prevailed.
Speaking after the autopsy, Salaktham said that the heavy gastrointestinal bleeding could have resulted in him suffering shock and dying because he also had thrombocytopenia – the drop in the platelets in his blood.
He could not determine if the death was the result of an asthma attack because he had not seen his treatment records.
As for the bruises on Surakrit’s body that his mother regards as suspicious, Salaktham said he would wait for the results of tissue tests before making a comment on that. Those results would be available in a fortnight.
Department of Corrections director-general Withaya Suriyawong said he was informed on Thursday morning – the day Surakrit died – that the suspect had a fever and was admitted to Bangkok Remand Prison’s hospital.
He said that after being given medication, Surakrit was sent back to detention. In the afternoon, he had difficulty breathing and was exhausted.
He was sent to the emergency care unit at the Medical Correctional Hospital. Pictures of him were taken before he was admitted.
Withaya said doctors’ primarily found that Surakrit had diabetes. He might not have known he suffered from diabetes and did not inform the department about the illness.
Withaya said doctors had determined he had internal bleeding and thrombocytopenia. The bruises on his body might have been the result of thrombocytopenia.
He insisted the department would not have had Surakrit assaulted and was ready to provide information for the investigation.
As Surakrit had died while in custody, the department had a duty to keep the body so it could be examined for circumstantial evidence.
The body would be sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the cause of death.
Investigators would submit the autopsy findings for a court to rule on the cause of death, Withaya said.
