A Secret History of the Bangkok Hilton by Chavoret Jaruboon, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol
Authors: Chavoret Jaruboon, Pornchai Sereemongkonpol
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if they wanted a lift to the hospital but the men said no. During the court hearing, Pramern told the judge he vividly remembered the face of the unconscious girl, whom he later knew as Sherry from the papers, because she was a biracial girl with distinctive beauty.
The prosecutor dismissed the charges against Winai due to insufficient evidence on November 6, 1986. However, the Samut Prakan Provincial Court handed down death penalties to the four remaining defendants and they were sent to Bang Kwang. Rungchalerm fainted on hearing the sentence while the other three men and their families were in tears.
Although the murder was high-profile, initially I didn’t pay much attention to it as homicide is no stranger to Bang Kwang. Shortly after I started out at the prison in the 1970s, I witnessed the execution of a murderer for the first time in my life. Over the years, you could say I became desensitised to the idea.
That first execution was of a gang-leader named Sa-ne, who was condemned to death by a summary execution order issued by the military government of General Thanom Kittikajorn in 1972. Sa-ne’s gang had raped and murdered a 10-year-old girl. They shoved dirt into her mouth to stifle her cries for help and strangled her to death afterwards. The other three members of his gang were let off with life in prison as some of them were as young as 14. Sa-ne wasn’t spared as he was above the legal age. He spat vile oaths and curses at the officials who were present at his execution while insisting that he hadn’t committed any crime. I was unfortunate enough to witness many more cases like this.
I became interested in the murder of Sherry on hearing that Rungchalerm, one of the four condemned men, had died on October 22, 1991. Shortly afterwards their appeal plea was accepted by the Appeal Court. I hope it offers the tormented soul of Rungchalerm some peace to know that the original verdict was overturned the following January.
Before his passing, I caught only glimpses of his visits with his wife. They both appeared to be inconsolable and in tears most of the time. His health had deteriorated quickly in prison and he was moved to the hospital. A long-term prisoner named Vibul, who was assigned to mind him there, told me that Rungchalerm suffered from asthma, which was exacerbated by trauma and his surroundings. Vibul made light of Rungchalerm’s condition, saying it served as a rain forecast because his breathing would be laboured before it rained. Vibul said he regularly injected him with adrenaline to relieve the symptoms.
Vibul was on anti-depression medication and felt particularly drowsy one evening, so he asked another inmate to mind Rungchalerm for him while he went to sleep early. He instructed his replacement that, if Rungchalerm had an asthma attack during the night, he must get him to sit upright on his bed and make him hug a big box and rest on it until the attack went away, as the doctor had recommended.
He was awoken at about 4am by his replacement and rushed to Rungchalerm’s bed to find him dead. His replacement claimed that during the night Rungchalerm had an asthma attack and, although he tried to get him to sit up, he resisted his help. Thinking it was not serious, the man just left him. He passed away at the age of 51. The official cause of death was heart failure.
After the Appeal Court overturned the original verdict, the remaining defendants were ordered to be kept on remand while they waited for a ruling by the Supreme Court, except for Krasae, who was granted bail with help from his boss at a security guard company.
In the meantime, Winai, petitioned the National
Police Office (now known as the Royal Thai Police) claiming the four men had been convicted wrongfully on false evidence. His petition led to the reinvestigation of this case by a team from the Crime Suppression Division.
On March 8, 1993, the Supreme Court upheld the Appeal Court’s verdict and the three men were cleared of
The prosecutor dismissed the charges against Winai due to insufficient evidence on November 6, 1986. However, the Samut Prakan Provincial Court handed down death penalties to the four remaining defendants and they were sent to Bang Kwang. Rungchalerm fainted on hearing the sentence while the other three men and their families were in tears.
Although the murder was high-profile, initially I didn’t pay much attention to it as homicide is no stranger to Bang Kwang. Shortly after I started out at the prison in the 1970s, I witnessed the execution of a murderer for the first time in my life. Over the years, you could say I became desensitised to the idea.
That first execution was of a gang-leader named Sa-ne, who was condemned to death by a summary execution order issued by the military government of General Thanom Kittikajorn in 1972. Sa-ne’s gang had raped and murdered a 10-year-old girl. They shoved dirt into her mouth to stifle her cries for help and strangled her to death afterwards. The other three members of his gang were let off with life in prison as some of them were as young as 14. Sa-ne wasn’t spared as he was above the legal age. He spat vile oaths and curses at the officials who were present at his execution while insisting that he hadn’t committed any crime. I was unfortunate enough to witness many more cases like this.
I became interested in the murder of Sherry on hearing that Rungchalerm, one of the four condemned men, had died on October 22, 1991. Shortly afterwards their appeal plea was accepted by the Appeal Court. I hope it offers the tormented soul of Rungchalerm some peace to know that the original verdict was overturned the following January.
Before his passing, I caught only glimpses of his visits with his wife. They both appeared to be inconsolable and in tears most of the time. His health had deteriorated quickly in prison and he was moved to the hospital. A long-term prisoner named Vibul, who was assigned to mind him there, told me that Rungchalerm suffered from asthma, which was exacerbated by trauma and his surroundings. Vibul made light of Rungchalerm’s condition, saying it served as a rain forecast because his breathing would be laboured before it rained. Vibul said he regularly injected him with adrenaline to relieve the symptoms.
Vibul was on anti-depression medication and felt particularly drowsy one evening, so he asked another inmate to mind Rungchalerm for him while he went to sleep early. He instructed his replacement that, if Rungchalerm had an asthma attack during the night, he must get him to sit upright on his bed and make him hug a big box and rest on it until the attack went away, as the doctor had recommended.
He was awoken at about 4am by his replacement and rushed to Rungchalerm’s bed to find him dead. His replacement claimed that during the night Rungchalerm had an asthma attack and, although he tried to get him to sit up, he resisted his help. Thinking it was not serious, the man just left him. He passed away at the age of 51. The official cause of death was heart failure.
After the Appeal Court overturned the original verdict, the remaining defendants were ordered to be kept on remand while they waited for a ruling by the Supreme Court, except for Krasae, who was granted bail with help from his boss at a security guard company.
In the meantime, Winai, petitioned the National
Police Office (now known as the Royal Thai Police) claiming the four men had been convicted wrongfully on false evidence. His petition led to the reinvestigation of this case by a team from the Crime Suppression Division.
On March 8, 1993, the Supreme Court upheld the Appeal Court’s verdict and the three men were cleared of
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