Granny finds teenage grandson dead at home in tragic discovery

A grandmother found her 19 year old grandson, a technical college student, dead in their home after he had been missing from school for five days. She had raised him since he was a child and was heartbroken by his passing.

At 3.30am today, September 19, Sompong Waree, the headman of Village 4 in Ban Long Takhian Tia, Khao Kwang Thong subdistrict, Nong Chang district, Uthai Thani province, received a distressing call from 74 year old Dokrak. She reported finding her grandson’s lifeless body in their home.

Sompong, along with Police Lieutenant Direk Iiamlae from the Khao Bang Krag Police Station, local police officers, a doctor from Nong Chang Hospital, and Uthai Thani rescue workers, rushed to the scene to investigate.

The scene was a traditional elevated wooden house with a living area below, divided into two rooms. Inside one of the rooms, they discovered the body of Thanawat, a 19 year old student at a local technical college.

His body showed signs of having been dead for at least five hours, with rigour mortis already set in and blood on the skin due to ants biting him. The cause of death appeared to be suicide by hanging.

Dok Rak explained that she and her grandson lived together while his parents worked in Bangkok and sent money for their expenses. Thanawat had no history of drug use but had suffered from depression for some time and had been on medication.

Student suicide

Recently, he had stopped taking his medication, claiming that he was cured. For the past five days, he had not attended school, and his grandmother was unaware of the reason for his absence. He often expressed a desire to die, which deeply troubled her.

“He would always say he wanted to die and I would scold him for saying such things.”

The previous day, Thanawat had taken her to the hospital. After returning home, he left on his motorcycle for a short time, returning around 8pm. He then went into another room and shut the door. His mother tried calling him several times, but he did not answer, reported KhaoSod.

“He usually slept in the same room as me. When I woke up at 2.30am and didn’t see him, I turned on the light and went to the other room. When I opened the door, I almost fainted. I saw my grandson had hanged himself.”

She had raised him since he was a small child and felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow at his loss. Despite her grief, she did not question the cause of his death, attributing it to his depression and his decision to stop taking his medication. She requested that the police release his body for religious funeral rites.

If you or anyone you know is in emotional distress, please contact the Samaritans of Thailand 24-hour hotline: 02 713 6791 (English), 02 713 6793 (Thai), or the Thai Mental Health Hotline at 1323 (Thai). Please also contact your friends or relatives at this time if you have feelings of loneliness, stress, or depression. Seek help.