An army recruit from Thailand whose death captured national attention after his organs were removed in mysterious circumstances showed signs of being physically assaulted, his family said on Sunday, citing the results of an autopsy ahead of the teenager’s funeral.
The army said 18-year-old Pakapong Tanyakan died of heart failure at a training school outside Bangkok in October.
But his family – sceptical of the official cause of death – commissioned their own examination only to discover that Pakapong’s brain, heart, bladder and stomach were missing, a dark twist that only intensified allegations of a cover-up, ignited public anger and turned the case into national news.
Supicha Tanyakan, Pakapong’s sister, said a second autopsy by the Central Institute of Forensic Science concluded he was physically assaulted because “internal bruising was found”.
The autopsy also suggested his broken ribs were not the result of vigorous first aid, she said.
The new findings added to mounting pressure on the country’s military to explain what happened to the first-year cadet, with his case raising concerns about the treatment of new conscripts.
Four officers have been transferred and former army chief and Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha said he was “deeply sorry” to hear about the death.
The next phase of the autopsy will examine the internal organs that were given back to the family in the outcry that ensued following the macabre discovery. After that the family members will decide whether or not to pursue legal action.
Thailand’s military, which has ruled the country since a coup in 2014, has been dogged by allegations of trainee abuse and at least three fatalities have been reported this year.
Pakapong had described being punched in the stomach and fainting while at the academy, his parents told reporters.
The military launched its own probe into the death but has denied wrongdoing and said that removing the organs for further inspection was standard procedure. Military officials did not return calls requesting comment on the new findings.
The funeral on Sunday was the real version of a ceremony that took place shortly after Pakapong’s death in which the family pretended to cremate his body but kept it instead for the purpose of getting the second opinion.
About 200 close friends and family came to the ceremony in Si Racha district in Chon Buri province, where his childhood friend sang a song in commemoration.
“This afternoon we will cremate his body,” his sister said at the temple where the ritual was being held. “It’s time that we put his body to rest.”
The evil of mankind is unfathomable…
Tink dem rich white ppl yah a play. Dem hate we at di sed time waaah kill we fi we organs fi dem live longer…. and ano white organs dem a get a everything but white yea….. nuh accept or sign nothing wey seh if yuh want to be organ donor… think about ur Id drivers licences its government ting and a di fuss place dem go look fi who sign up for it…yuh sign wey yuh rights matter fact is like yuh give dem di ok fi seh yes dat person did sign up for organ donor :nerd tink dem a wait till you dead first when dem want it now. Mi sure who have Id memba seh dat is one a di fill out questions and if yuh renew it online is one of the last question dem ask yuh. Das why mi seh why di hell is di DNA suh important wid di id wey dem a duh a yawd all dis connected and lead up tuh tings cause its almost like making it look good but its all bad, they dont care about us..they never did. One more ting wah puzzle mi from long is why dem mark we…Jamaicans why we get mark wid di immunization no way all of us have dat mark just cause di immunization mi nnnaaaa believe.
Ppl wid enough money can get anything in this world. Solo travellers heading off the beaten path should be very cautions, as they are great targets for these kinda things.
Also think about what that man said in the video he is a mortician. He said the medical examiners are in on it. They are the ones trained to extract organs and harvest them. Once they sew people back up, at the funeral you have no idea what’s missing…
Now they want to have a record of all Jamaicans blood type, finger print, toe print every last information of our DNA, once they have all our medical history they know who is healthy (with healthy organs). Who is diabetic, cancer riddin, bad kidneys the whole 9 yards. Why does any government entity need all that information for security? And they are willing to spend millions implementing this system but refuse to fix the health, education, and all the other systems that needs dire help? Kids are going to school hungry, people are dying because of lack of medical care, housing in Jamaica is a joke if you don’t have money but they are spending millions to track us… why not fix the things people can benefit from first????
Thank God mi did have cancer already, my organs ain’t good for anybody but myself, not even blood I am allowed to donate, so thank God dem will leave mi alone. I was thinking of erasing my surgical scars, but I think mi will keep dem incase dem grabble mi dem will see di proof.
Most ppl from the 3rd World countries have the mark from getting the TB vaccine. It was actually something good they did for us. Not everyone got a mark from the vaccine though.
Exactly. I started to reply to that comment and just deleted it