PATUM THANI – “Bung” Netiporn Sanesangkhom, a 28-year-old political activist who advocated for youth to demand reform of the monarchy under the group “Talu Wang” (meaning “breakthrough the palace”), passed away shortly before noon on May 14 at Thammasat University Hospital in Pathum Thani province after being transferred from prison with sudden cardiac arrest.
Doctors from the Medical Correctional Hospital and Thammasat University Hospital tried their best to revive the patient from 6:20 a.m. to 11:22 a.m. The patient’s body did not respond to treatment and she passed away peacefully at 11:22 a.m. The Department of Corrections expressed their condolences to the deceased’s relatives and provided a statement regarding her condition.
“After the Medical Correctional Institution Hospital received Ms. Netiporn from Thammasat University Hospital on April 4, 2024, Ms. Netiporn resumed eating and drinking. Doctors and nurses provided close and continuous care, but she still had mild weakness and swelling in her legs. Blood tests showed mild anemia and low electrolytes, but Ms. Netiporn refused to take electrolytes and blood-nourishing vitamins, leading to the aforementioned symptoms and her death today,” the statement said.
Bung’s most recent hunger strike took place while she was detained for violating the law on royal defamation, also known as Article 112, for conducting a poll on the public’s inconvenience caused by royal motorcades on February 8, 2022, as well as for contempt of court.
In 2022, Bung had previously gone on a hunger strike alongside Ms. Nattanich Duangmusit, or Baipor, another activist friend, for as long as 64 days before being granted bail on August 4, 2022.
She was detained again on January 26, 2024, after the Bangkok South Criminal Court revoked her bail in the Article 112 case and sentenced her to one month in prison for contempt of court. After hearing the rulings in both cases, Bung did not request bail and was sent to the Central Women’s Correctional Institution on the evening of January 26.
She began a dry hunger strike on the evening of January 27 to demand reform of the justice system and that no one should be imprisoned for political dissent again.
The criminal law provision, Section 112, is seen as a political tool that allows individuals to be targeted and charged with severe penalties. The law states: “Whoever defames, insults, or threatens the king, queen, heir to the throne, or regent shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of three to fifteen years.”
Bung had given an interview to BBC Thai in 2022, stating that she grew up in a family of judiciary members. Her father was a judge, and her older sister was a lawyer. She was a bright student with excellent academic performance and was also active in extracurricular activities.
When Bung was studying at Triam Udom Suksa Nomklao School, she served as a member of the student committee. She then went on to study at the Department of Finance, Faculty of Business Administration, Kasetsart University, while also working as an English tutor.
When Bung was in high school, she participated in the PDRC (People’s Democratic Reform Committee) protests in 2014 to oust the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra. However, her political views gradually changed as she received new information through social media, especially when she learned that one of the 99 people who died during the crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters in 2010 was a homeless man shot by a sniper.
Feeling politically guilty, Bung changed her approach to activism and began focusing on education issues in mid-2020. As a tutor, she felt that the education system in Thailand was outdated in many aspects. One of her early activities involved advocating for students’ right to have their preferred hairstyles and for LGBT+ students’ right to express their gender identity.
From then on, she continued to support the youth who came out to protest and later engaged in activities with the Talu Wang group. She had never thought that she would also be charged under Article 112 simply for taking care of the youth participating in the activities.
She later became more well-known for her role as the guardian of “Yok,” the youngest female youth to be prosecuted under Article 112 at the age of 15, to enable Yok to return to her original school.
The activism of Bung and Yok was often criticized as being aggressive, exhibiting excessive protest behavior, and using words that led to quarrels. In addition, a youth who had fled abroad posted a message saying that when she was 16 years old, she had been manipulated by Bung in a manner similar to Yok, in what she described as “child grooming,” to make everything newsworthy and attention-grabbing, and to use the results of the activism to seek funding for further movements.
However, Yok insisted that she had never been manipulated by Bung and had engaged in various activities on her own. Eventually, Bung was detained in prison again, while Yok announced that she was ending her political activism on March 23, 2024.
Bung had previously made a will dated February 2, 2024, stating her intentions for the disposition of her assets in the event of her death. She expressed her wish to bequeath all her cash assets, bank deposits in all commercial banks, as well as her wristwatch, earrings, and pets solely to Yok.
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