Former Phuket art teacher, turned alcoholic, found dead at public park

PHUKET: A former art teacher at Phuket Rajabhat University was found dead near the new indoor sports stadium in Saphan Hin yesterday.

The body of Prasit Songkramma, 57, was found at about 2pm by Ngaojai Kusuya, a 50-year-old cleaner at the stadium.

“At this stage we believed he died from heatstroke and, from what we have learned, he was an alcoholic,” said Phuket City Police Superintendent Sermphan Sirikong.

However, Mr Prasit’s body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital to confirm the cause of death, he added.

Ms Ngaojai said that she first noticed Mr Prasit walking around the area in the morning.

“My friend and I didn’t pay any attention as we had to go to work in the gym,” she said.

“At around midday, I saw him lying in the sun, so I asked my colleagues to check to see if he was okay, but he was dead, so we called police.”

Mr Prasit’s wife, Mrs Janchai, 53, told police her husband used to teach art part-time at the Phuket Rajabhat University north of Phuket Town.

“He created many works of art that he sold at events in Phuket,” she said.

However, Mr Prasit had become disappointed with his life, Mrs Janchai explained.

“My husband became an alcoholic,” she said. “He suffered bouts of depression and it seemed like he had developed Alzheimer’s disease. He was always forgetting things.

“He went missing from home in the morning, then they found him dead.”

— Kritsada Mueanhawong