Jailed political activist Ekachai Hongkangwan has been transferred to Rajavithi Hospital for tests after prison doctors determined he had a liver abscess, his lawyers said on Friday.
Lawyers on Wednesday had petitioned the Department of Corrections to urgently transfer their client to Thammasat University Hospital for treatment of what they said was a stomach tumour.
Ekachai, 48, was admitted to the Central Correctional Hospital on Sept 8 with jaundice and other symptoms, leading doctors to conduct a variety of tests.
They said their tests revealed a liver abscess that showed signs of infection but was not malignant. They began treating it with intravenous antibiotics and his condition was improving, but they decided to refer him to Rajavithi Hospital, one of the capital’s largest public hospitals, for further evaluation.
The treatment of sick inmates has been in the spotlight recently following the transfer of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Police General Hospital just 13 hours after he was admitted to prison.
Ekachai, 48, is currently serving a one-year sentence for violating the Computer Crime Act by posting lurid tales online about his sexual experiences during earlier prison stays.
He was first imprisoned in 2013 for violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law, for selling pirated copies of an Australian TV documentary on the Thai monarchy.
After his release he became a regular fixture at public protests. Earlier this year, he was acquitted of threatening the safety of Her Majesty the Queen in an incident involving a royal motorcade in 2020.