Mother seeks accountability after conscript son dies during training
A mother is seeking accountability after her son, a newly enlisted Air Force conscript, collapsed and died during training in Don Mueang District, Bangkok. She alleges instructors ignored his worsening condition and made him continue training.
The case was shared by the Facebook page “น้ำ-นิชนันท์ วังคะฮาต-Nitchanan Wangkahat”, which said the account was based on the mother’s allegations.
The conscript was identified as 21 year old Phruetsa Wimutthithammachai from Ubon Ratchathani. He began basic training with Air Force Security Battalion 1 in Don Mueang District, Bangkok, on May 1 last year.
According to the mother, she visited about a month into training and said his mood had shifted from cheerful to depressed. He reportedly told her the training was so intense he feared he might die there.
She also noticed he was unsteady on his feet, had trouble keeping his balance, and had a continuous discharge of pus from his ear.
The mother alleged he was given only paracetamol and ear drops by the camp doctor and was not referred to hospital, and that instructors still made him continue training as usual without rest.
On the day of the incident, an instructor allegedly told Phruetsa to lie in a hammock under a building near where others were training, instead of being sent to the medical unit.
He then fell from the hammock, and his friends moved to help, but the instructor ordered them not to intervene and to continue training. The trainees checked on him after training ended and found he had no pulse.
He was given CPR and taken to Bhumibol Hospital, where doctors reportedly said he was brain-dead and had a 0.01% chance of survival. His mother insisted doctors proceed with surgery in the hope he might recover.
However, he remained alive for another month and died on July 1, 2025.
The family’s situation was further complicated because Phruetsa’s girlfriend was four months pregnant at the time he began conscription. The child has since been born and is now being raised by his mother.
On compensation, the mother said she paid more than 58,000 baht for funeral arrangements in Bangkok. She alleged the unit told her she would receive a total of 42,000 baht in assistance, but only received it in mid-January this year after repeated follow-up.
She also alleged the unit refused a separate payment collected by fellow soldiers, saying it was only available for “disaster” cases, and his death did not meet the criteria.
The mother has now submitted a 69-page complaint through an online system, but has not been contacted and has not seen responsibility taken by any agency to date.
The page added that it was willing to give space for the unit or instructors to respond with their version of events.
In similar news, previously in April last year, Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said commanders at army units where trainers are found guilty of abusing conscripts will face disciplinary action for neglect of duty, citing repeated cases of physical and emotional abuse by trainers and senior officers.
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