Petition to restore dignity of Thailand’s only convicted cannibal

In a dark corner of the Siriraj hospital, in the rather bizarre medical museum (nicknamed the Museum of Death) is the mummified body of Si Quey sae Oeng, Thailand’s only convicted cannibal.

Now more than 10,000 people have signed a change.org petition for the removal of the gruesome display in order to restore his human dignity.

The petition follows up a twitter message by @ChangeSiam who brought up the issue. The message said that Si Quey’s mummified body had been in a glass display case at the museum of Siriraj hospital for the last six decades and claimed that the man didn’t kill or eat children’s organs but he was, in fact, framed and falsely charged.

The message has been re-tweeted over 80,000 times.

Pharaoh Chakpatranon, the author of the Twitter message, says he believes few Thais do not know the name “Si Quey” as it if often mentioned by parents in a classic rebuke by parents to stop children crying “If you do not stop crying, Si Quey will come to eat your liver.”

Pharaoh added that Si Quey’s cannibalism was distorted and blown out of proportion by the media over six decades ago and there was no hard evidence to prove that he ate the internal organs of a child that he had murdered.

The Appeals Court found him guilty of killing a boy, identified as Somboon Bunyakarn, and sentenced him to death, but didn’t mention anything about his alleged cannibalism.

However, Si Quey’s alleged cannibalism has been the subject of several movies, books and plays.

“Almost 60 years since he was executed, his body is still displayed at the forensic science museum of Siriraj hospital with a small sign which reads “Si Quey (a cannibal)” attached to the display cabinet. For Thai society to learn from past mistakes, when one man became a victim of society because of the unfounded rumors whipped up by the media, this should serve as a step to realizing and respecting the human dignity of oneself and others,” said Pharaoh in his webpage.