Cadet died ‘due to health issue’

DESPITE a family’s concerns, the death of an 18-year-old cadet at a military academy was not caused by any irregularity or wrongdoing, senior officials insisted yesterday.
The defence minister, commander-in-chief, national police chief and forensic experts yesterday defended the actions taken after the cadet’s death on October 17.
Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon stressed the death of military student Phakhapong “Meay” Tanyakan was due to his health problems. He insisted that people with health issues should not become soldiers, as hard training and corporal punishment are common practices to train civilians to become soldiers.

The death of Phakhapong, a first-year cadet at the Armed Forces Academy Preparatory School (AFAPS) raised questions, as his family doubted the cause of his death. 
Some of his organs had been removed without the family’s knowledge or consent after an autopsy at the military-run Phramongkutklao Hospital.
Although the autopsy indicated that Phakhapong died of “sudden cardiac arrest”, the family suspected that his death might have been caused by the harsh punishment he had received at the military school. 
The family later asked the Justice Ministry’s Central Institute of Forensic Science to perform a second autopsy to verify the cause of death. The second autopsy found that some of Phakhapong’s organs were missing. 
Prawit said: “No one beat him. I believe the military school did not try to cover anything up because no one can hide the cause of death.
“The Army has already explained everything about this case. The CCTV footage has already been revealed and Phakhapong’s death has been documented.

“Everything will have to follow legal procedures while the Army also provides full support to the family,” said Prawit, who is also deputy prime minister overseeing military affairs.
Phakhapong’s elder sister, Supicha Tanyakan, has said that her sibling almost died on August 23 because of punishment he received at the school. 
“He fell unconscious and demonstrated low vital signs that day,” Supicha said. 
She added that her brother later told her that he had been punished because he and his friend were on a path prohibited by his seniors. 
“His senior forced him to put his legs up and his head down in a sauna room for hours,” she said. 
Asked about the corporal punishment, Prawit said all AFAPS cadets had to deal with that and it was normal for the military cadets to be trained hard and punished. 
“When I was a cadet there, I also received punishment and lost consciousness because of that. Anyway, I’ve survived,” he said.
He said that to avoid a similar incident, unhealthy people should not attempt to become a soldier, and military cadets should be prepared to be punished to maintain discipline.
It was disclosed on the private chat log on August 26 that Phakhapong and a friend had been punished until he was unconscious and his heart temporarily stopped beating. He recovered after medical treatment.
Phakhapong apparently urged his friend not to tell anyone about the incident.
Supreme Commander General Thanchaiyan Srisuwan said the Army has already set up a committee to investigate the chat log.
Thanchaiyan said that it was normal for a military cadet to be punished, but there was a regulation for punishment methods and harsh punishments are not allowed. There will be an investigation into the matter, he said.
“On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of our military school, we have improved our training standards,” Thanchaiyan said.
Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda, a commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police, said the report of a cadet’s death at the military school was not unusual or a surprise.
He said the investigation into the incident was in the process of verifying the cause of death. The removal of internal organs was normal procedure for an autopsy, he said. 

The Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS) deputy director Dr Trairit Temahiwong said that it was lawful for a forensic doctor and investigation team to collect organs and tissues from a body without notifying the relatives, in the case of a suspicious death, for a thorough examination on the organs.
“It makes sense for the forensic team at Phramongkutklao Hospital to remove the brain, heart and some other organs for further examination, because this is a complex case, as the dead student was young and healthy,” Trairit said.
CIFS director Som Promros said the Phramongkutklao Hospital forensic team would transfer the collected organs to CIFS today for examination. The autopsy result would be finished by November 30, he said.