The eldest son of Gen Panlop Pinmanee fell to his death from the eighth floor of a shopping centre car park in Bang Kapi district of Bangkok on Saturday.
The man, identified later as Ratcharot Pinmanee, 51, was found injured and asking for help in the bushes behind the car park building of The Mall Bang Kapi, said Pol Capt Pongthep Sangpan, deputy investigation chief at the Lat Phrao police station, who was alerted on Saturday morning.
Rescue workers gave the injured man first aid at the scene but he collapsed and an ambulance was called. Medics performed CPR but he died shortly afterward.
Ratcharot was the eldest son of Gen Panlop, a former deputy chief of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) who also served as an adviser to ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
A police investigation found that Ratcharot had parked his car on the second floor of the car park building before walking to the eighth floor. He fell from the building shortly afterward. His footprints were found leading to the edge of the balcony, Thai media reported.
Gen Panlop said he believed his son’s fall was accidental.
The retired military man said he received a phone call from a police officer about the fatal fall at around 11.30am on Saturday.
He dismissed speculation that Ratcharot had committed suicide. He said his son had shown no signs of stress when the two were watching television together on Friday night. Ratcharot was the eldest of three children and the general’s only son.
According to Gen Panlop, Ratcharot liked collecting amulets and often went to the mall to see amulets.
Ratcharot held a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Chulalongkorn University and later got a scholarship to continue his studies in engineering in the United States. He was about to pursue a PhD in Germany before his death, said Gen Panlop.