UDON THANI - A young singer who died after three sessions at a local massage parlour that included neck twisting had died from blood poisoning and an autopsy is needed to determine the actual facts of her death, the provincial health chief said on Monday.
Twenty-year-old Chayada Prao-hom, aka Ping Chayada, died on Sunday.
Dr Somchaichote Piyawatwela told reporters that, according to her family, Chayada went to a massage parlour in Udon Thani on Oct 5 for a massage because she had pain in her neck and shoulders.
Two days later the young look thung/mor lam singer complained of pain in the back of her neck and took pain killers. She wrote on her Facebook account on Nov 6 that the massage included neck twisting.
A week later Chayada complained of numbness in her arm and returned to the same massage parlour. She received massage from the same masseuse, Dr Somchaichote said.
Two weeks later, Chayada complained of stiffness and was unable to lie face down. She returned to the same place and was given a massage by a different woman.
Later, Chayada reported feeling a tingling, heat and itching in her fingers and numbness in her right leg, he said.
On Oct 30, she went to Piboonrak Hospital for treatment for her neck pain and was referred to Nonghan Hospital, where she was given medication on Nov 1.
On Nov 4, she returned to Piboonrak Hospital as her condition persisted. She was referred to Nonghan Hospital, and then to Udonthani Hospital.
Chayada stayed at Udonthani Hospital from Nov 6 to 11. During this time she suffered severe leg and neck pain and was unable to move her limbs.
Examinations showed she did not have a broken neck bone but suffered transverse myelitis (a neurological disorder resulting from an inflamed spinal cord), Dr Somchaichote said. She received medication, recovered and was discharged.
On Nov 18 Chayada again suffered stiffness, along with a seizure. She was rushed to Piboonrak Hospital and on Nov 22 was moved to an intensive care unit at Udonthani Hospital.
On Dec 8, she died from septicemia, Dr Somchaichote said.
“Police and (her family) are in a position to take action to deternine if her death was linked in any way to the massage, and public health officials are ready to cooperate with any autopsy if relatives want it,” he said.
When reporters asked for the cause of the blood poisoning, Dr Somchaichote said Chayada had been bed-ridden for a time and there were many possible causes. He did not elaborate.
The provincial health chief said the massage parlour involved, and all seven masseuses working there, were licensed.
On Saturday night, a tourist from Singapore died after a massage at Patong beach in Phuket.