Loei Hospital theft uncovered after ventilator stands found in river, a year later
Parts of medical equipment found in the Loei River led police to uncover a theft of ventilators from Loei Hospital. A medical worker is named as the suspect and remains at large.
Residents reported to officers at Mueang Loei Police Station on March 17 after discovering parts of medical equipment in the river under a bridge in Kud Pong sub-district. Later, locals in Na An sub-district reported finding two more ventilator stands in the river.
Volunteer divers retrieved the items and identified them as ventilator stands belonging to Loei Hospital. The hospital had reported the devices missing to police last year, with the total loss valued at more than 7 million baht.
Police said an investigation identified the suspect as a 30 year old male medical worker, Chinnawat Chatraksa. Investigators said CCTV footage clearly showed Chinnawat stealing the equipment.
Police said the stolen equipment was later sold in Khon Kaen and Bangkok. Chinnawat was also reported to have promoted the items on social media.
Following the reports, a rescue team representative from Ayutthaya stepped forward to return a ventilator to the hospital. The rescuer said the team had bought the device online and only later realised it was stolen after seeing the news.
ThaiRath reported that police issued a summons for Chinnawat and would seek an arrest warrant if he failed to report to police. As of the latest update, there has been no report that he has surrendered.
A friend of the suspect told Channel 7 that Chinnawat was previously a hard-working and dedicated medical worker, but reportedly changed after becoming involved with online gambling. The friend suspected that debts linked to slot machine gambling may have led him to commit the theft.
The case follows other incidents involving medical-related theft and fraud. In 2024, a Thai nurse was arrested for stealing umbilical cords and placentas from a Bangkok hospital and selling them to a beauty clinic for the production of growth factors and stem cells, with the clinic later distributing the illegal products to more than 100 clinics nationwide.
Last year, a senior police doctor and six other doctors were found using the identities of deceased patients to obtain alprazolam (a controlled medicine) and distributing it without proper prescriptions.
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