POLITICIANS ATTEND FUNERAL OF SUICIDE VICTIM
Cambodian security guard’s last message and artwork of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha draws public attention
ALMOST 100 politicians and their aides, both from the government and opposition camps, attended a funeral prayer here for a young security guard who hanged herself after posting a drawing of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha online.
Plaifon Amsarika, 19, a security guard in Bangkok, posted before her suicide that her life was full of miseries under his government and described the prime minister as “heartless”.
According to the police, Plaifon was found hanged in her room at a dormitory in Bangkok at 1.55am on April 28.
Her story made headlines on social and mainstream Thai media, with her message gaining wide public attention and comments, particularly among politicians in the opposition bloc.
The Bangkok Post said that the name of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra appeared on a white board at the funeral site at a temple in Chachoengsao’s Ban Pho district in central Thailand, indicating that he was a host for an evening prayer held daily prior to the cremation.
On Saturday evening when the prayer began, Suporn Atthawong, a vice-minister attached to the Prime Minister’s office, was seen talking to a group of reporters in front of the pavilion where the prayer took place.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the opposition Move Forward Party in parliament, was invited to light candles and incense sticks in front of the casket containing Plaifon’s body, signifying the start of the prayer.