13 year old Thai boy dies after ketamine injection by his friends

The family of a 13 year old Thai boy suspected his friends of killing him with a poisonous kratom drink. The teenager’s friends later confessed to giving the victim an injection of ketamine, which led to his death.

The teenager, Akkarawat “Tigger” Phonlasen, was found lying lifeless on the sofa in his home in Bangkok on the morning of July 7. He had foam around his mouth and his body was covered with vomit stains. His family performed CPR and called medical workers to the scene but Tigger could not be saved.

Tigger’s aunt, Palita, told KomChadLuek that Tigger left home on the evening of July 6, saying he was going to a barbecue restaurant with friends and arrived home at about 9pm. He then lay on the sofa and fell asleep.

Palita said she heard Tigger snoring louder than usual, so she went to check on him. She thought Tigger was exhausted and sleepy, so she gave him a blanket before going to sleep, only to wake up to see his lifeless body.

With foam around his mouth, the family suspected that Tigger must have consumed something poisonous, which led to his death. They checked his mobile phone and conversations with his friends, discovering that Tigger attended a kratom party, not a barbecue.

Ketamine overdose

In a conversation with an older male friend, Tigger asked the friend to bring him a kratom drink. This made the family suspect that this friend and the kratom drink might be involved in Tigger’s death.

Aside from the conversation about kratom, the friend also sent Tigger a picture of a gun. The gun was placed on a table, together with a syringe that was supposedly for drug use, making the family suspect a conflict between Tigger and his friends.

The family decided to seek help from non-profit organisation Saimai Survive to follow up on the case. The family wanted the police to conduct an autopsy on Tigger’s body to see if there were any toxic substances in his system.

The family then contacted Tigger’s friends to ask about the situation at the party. The friends initially revealed that they gave Tigger the kratom drink but then eventually confessed that they also injected him with ketamine.

Tigger’s family filed a complaint against the friends, accusing them of intentional murder. The police planned to summon all the friends for questioning. If the police find that Tigger was willing to take the drug, the friends may face a lesser charge.