Detained former CIB chief Pongpat Chayapan has been released from the Corrections Department Hospital and sent back to his cell at Bangkok Remand Prison after a two-week rest to recover from balloon angioplasty to treat narrowed coronary arteries.
The 58-year-old ex-Central Investigation Bureau chief was taken back to the prison on Tuesday but Aryut Sinthoppan, commander of the Bangkok Remand Prison, revealed this only on Thursday.
Mr Aryut said Pol Lt Gen Pongpat is being detained in the same prison zone for new inmates after the hospital doctor labelled him as “normal” as he could talk and walk normally.
Pol Lt Gen Pongpat was taken from Bangkok Remand Prison for a medical examination at the Central Chest Institute in Nonthaburi on Dec 27 after he experienced chest pain and stress. The institute’s medical personnel completed balloon angioplasty for him on that day after diagnosing him with blocked coronary arteries. He was sent to the Corrections Department Hospital the next day to complete his recovery.
It was the second time Pol Lt Gen Pongpat had been sent to hospital because of illness believed caused by the stress of his arrest on lese majeste and other criminal charges in November.