Thai Enquirer
Opinion: Bung’s death should be the last. Ekachai should not be next.
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 outlet. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
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Thailand should not wait for another death in custody before confronting a difficult question: Are we relying too heavily on pre-trial detention in political cases?
Key facts
- She spent a total of 204 days in detention, including 110 consecutive days before her death, after the court rejected another bail application in February 2024.
- This week, the Thanyaburi Provincial Court ruled that activist Netiporn “Bung”
- Activist Ekachai Hongkangwan remains behind bars while seeking Supreme Court review of his conviction in the 2020 royal motorcade case
- In 2023, the Criminal Court acquitted Ekachai and his co-defendants after finding insufficient evidence that they intended to obstruct the royal motorcade
Summary
This week, the Thanyaburi Provincial Court ruled that activist Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom died from an electrolyte imbalance and an enlarged heart while in state custody. The court did not conclude that prison medical staff had acted negligently, finding the evidence insufficient to reach a definitive determination. But one fact remains beyond dispute: Bung died while being held before her trial had concluded.
The timing of the ruling is impossible to ignore. Just days earlier, the remaining defendants in the royal motorcade poll case—the same lèse-majesté case in which Bung’s bail had twice been revoked—were acquitted of both lèse-majesté and sedition charges. Bung, the eighth defendant, never heard that verdict. She spent a total of 204 days in detention, including 110 consecutive days before her death, after the court rejected another bail application in February 2024.