NAKHON SAWAN: A 12-year-old boy was found hanged in a toilet at a petrol station in Muang district on Wednesday morning.
The body was discovered by a cleaning woman at an Esso petrol station on Nakhon Sawan-Phitsanulok Road in tambon Nakhon Sawan Tok and reported to police about 8am.
The boy was wearing a red-black T-shirt and black shorts and was hanging from the top hinge of a door in the toilet by a white nylon rope around his neck.
Police said the boy had cane marks on his palms and arms and a rope mark around his neck. A doctor said the boy had been dead at least two hours when found.
The youth's mother, Montha Malisut, 36, said she and her son had moved to Nakhon Sawan from the southern province of Trang two months ago. They moved into a rented room next to the petrol station to live with her new husband.
Her previous husband, the boy's father, was dead. He hanged himself.
Ms Montha said that after the man's death her son became quiet and depressed, rarely ate and wore this late father's clothes.
Her son used the petrol station's toilet every morning. She had not expected anything like her son committing suicide.
Regarding the cane marks, Ms Montha said she had beaten her son for being so stubborn.
The maternal grandparents, who live in Nakhon Sawan, came to see the body and said they doubted the boy committed suicide.
Police were investigating.