Cadet's mother lashes out at RTAF over son's death

Cadet's mother lashes out at RTAF over son's death

The mother of 18-year-old cadet Pakapong "Moei" Tanyakan has attacked the Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTAF), accusing them of blaming her son for the events leading up to his death.

"What a shame Pakapong did not thank a senior student [for ordering Pakapong be disciplined] and expressed his displeasure to the senior officer. It's so ridiculous. [They're] defaming the dead person, really?" Sukanya Tanyakan posted on her Facebook page yesterday.

The mother was responding to the press conference the military fact-finding panel held on Friday which concluded that the death at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School was caused by sudden cardiac arrest.

The findings suggested that on Oct 16, the day before his death, Pakapong ran too slowly during a run. He was disciplined for this but failed to say the traditional "thank you" after the punishment, so he was punished again which caused an attack of hyperventilation.

"There have been previous examples [similar to Pakapong's] which make me understand that this kind of death is normal and there is nothing wrong with it, right?," said the mother.

According to the panel, it is not uncommon for punishments to be severe enough to cause cadets hyperventilation.

Ms Sukanya also ironically said: "I have just found out about this condition and realised it is an epidemic. Do a lot of students there also suffer from this syndrome? (Please ready a vaccine. I'm worried about them.)"

"After watching the press briefing, I feel embarrassed for them [the army]," added Ms Sukanya.

The panel insisted that Pakapong was at the school's medical unit for treatment on Oct 17, the day he died, and nobody disciplined or assaulted him that day.

"He walked from the medical unit to the battalion where he kept his belongings. Witnesses saw him suffer an acute hyperventilation attack as he walked back to the medical unit," the panel said.

"All right, nobody physically assaulted Moei on Oct 17 because he was at the medical unit. But what he endured the day before meant he had to be held up [after he collapsed]," said Ms Sukanya.

The mother also questioned a missing four-hour period in the CCTV footage of Pakapong's activities on the morning of Oct 17, saying the clips showed only incidents in the afternoon.

She also called for the clip featuring Pakapong falling down a flight of stairs on Oct 10 which the panel said caused the bruises found on his body.

Lt Gen Natathapol Boonngam, chief of the RTAF's Directorate of Joint Intelligence, said the RTAF had invited the parents to discuss the panel's findings on Dec 18 but they had yet to accept.

According to the probe, the army admitted Pakapong was disciplined on two days before he died but insisted the punishments did not lead to his death.

Although the punishments had resulted in hyperventilation, investigators said these attacks were not related to the cadet's heart failure on Oct 17.

ACM Chawarat Marungruang, head of the joint chiefs of staff, insisted that the school's punishments are not harmful to trainees.

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