KANCHNABURI: Dr Decha Sucarom, a former public health minister and six-time MP, died at 10.29pm on Monday at the age of 86, his daughter Vorasuda Sucarom posted on her Facebook page.
Decha was born on Sept 21, 1935 to Mr Phon and Mrs Ampoch in Bangkok. After graduating from Triam Udomsuksa School, he studied in the faculty of medicine of the then University of Medical Science (now Mahidol University) and received a medical degree in 1959.
He entered politics by running for the House of Representative under the banner of the Democrat Party in 1992 and was elected. He later switched to the Chart Thai Party and then Thai Rak Thai. He was elected five times as an MP for Kanchanaburi. In 2005 he was a party-list MP of the Thai Rak Thai Party.
Decha served as minister of university affairs in the Chuan Leekpai government in 1997. In 1998 he was appointed minister of public health in a cabinet reshuffle.