Thai mother suspects murder after son’s suspicious suicide

A Thai mother is searching for the truth after suspecting her 15 year old son’s suicide was staged to cover up his murder in Samut Prakan province, near Bangkok.

The teenager, C, disappeared from his home on Tuesday, August 13, prompting his family to share a missing person poster on social media, urging netizens to help locate the teenager. On Thursday, August 15, a local fisherman found C’s lifeless body hanging from a tree in a mangrove forest.

Officers from Bangpu Police Station, who were called to the scene to investigate the cause of death, initially concluded that C committed suicide. However, C’s family was not convinced by this conclusion.

On Wednesday, August 14, the day before the discovery of the body, C’s mother, Thanate Kaewruenthong, received a mysterious call during which someone said, “I love you, mother,” before hanging up. Thanate was certain that the call was not from her son, as she would recognise his voice.

Thanate did not believe that her son would commit suicide and pointed out several suspicious details on his lifeless body. She noted that C had wounds and bruises that appeared consistent with an assault. His face also had a burn mark, as if someone pressed a cigarette against it.

Thanate further noted that the spot where C’s body was found was in a mangrove forest. If he walked there to commit suicide, his feet and legs should be covered in mud. However, there was no mud on his body.

Suspicious student

Thanate requested that the police conduct a comprehensive autopsy on C’s body to ascertain the true cause of death and the origin of his injuries.

To uncover more details about her son’s death, Thanate attempted to return the mysterious phone call, but no one answered.

Subsequently, a woman, who claimed to be the elder sister of a vocational student, reached out to Thanate. She apologised and explained that her brother had called Thanate as a prank after obtaining her number from a missing person poster on social media.

Despite this explanation, the vocational student remains under suspicion due to an audio recording in which he is heard discussing C’s death with an older student. In the recording, he allegedly said, “They beat C until he lost consciousness.”

“They tied his arms and legs and continued the physical assault. C might have died at about 10pm when his mother could not contact him. They thought C was already dead, so they hung him from the tree. However, C was still alive and woke up while being hung. He struggled to survive, biting his teeth until they broke. The attackers offered no help and let him die.”

C’s family has cancelled his funeral and transferred the body back to the police for an autopsy. The officers are awaiting the autopsy results before continuing their investigation and have not yet determined whether the vocational student was involved in C’s death.

If you or anyone you know is in emotional distress, please get in touch with 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.