Activist Netiporn dies after heart attack on hunger strike
Lese majeste suspect had stopped taking food in January
Detained political activist Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom died on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack on hunger strike, according to Thai authorities.
Staff at the Medical Correctional Institute performed CPR after Netiporn went into cardiac arrest at around 6am on Tuesday. She was moved to Bangkok’s Thammasat Hospital but pronounced dead at 11.12am.
Earlier this week, a lawyer from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) visited Netiporn in medical detention and reported she was visibly emaciated after losing around 10 kilograms of body weight. She complained of headaches, body aches, diarrhoea, and swelling in her body, legs, and feet, all of which were attributed to prolonged hunger strike.
Her family requested that she be given calcium supplements but medical professionals cautioned that resuming medication after a prolonged period of deprivation might cause adverse effects.
Netiporn, 28, an activist from the Ta Lu Wang (Through the Palace) group, began a hunger strike at the Central Women’s Correctional Institute on January 27 to protest her detention after her bail release was revoked. She was charged with lese majeste under Article 112 of the criminal code for conducting a public poll on royal motorcades in February 2022.
She was transferred to the Medical Correctional Institute after her condition deteriorated.
According to TLHR data, 1,954 people have been prosecuted for political participation and expression since the beginning of the “Free Youth” protests in July 2020. Among these are cases against 286 children aged under 18. The number of lese majeste lawsuits filed since 2020 has surpassed 300, TLHR said.
