Khun Ying Honorifics (linguistics), Honorifics are a class of words or grammatical morphemes that encode a wide variety of social relationships between interlocutors or between interlocutors and referents.Foley, William. ''Anthropological Linguistics: An Int ...
Pornthip Rojanasunand, also spelled Porntip Rojanasunan ( th, พรทิพย์ โรจนสุนันท์; ; born 21 December 1954) is a Thai
forensic pathologist
Forensic pathology is pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. A post mortem examination is performed by a medical examiner or forensic pathologist, usually during the investigation of criminal law cases an ...
and medical doctor. First appearing in the media in 1998, her work and outlandish hairstyles quickly granted her celebrity status, and she became the best known of Thailand's forensic scientists. An author of several best-selling memoirs, her work introduced the Thai public to the role of DNA evidence, among other forensic methods, in crime investigations.
High-profile cases Pornthip was involved in include the
murder of Jenjira Ploy-angunsri in 1998, her controversial re-examination of the
death of Hangthong Thammawattana in 2003 (which was later disputed by other forensic physicians), and the identification of victims in the
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
(for which she was both commended and criticised). She frequently criticised the
Royal Thai Police
The Royal Thai Police (RTP) ( th, สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excludi ...
over their handling of forensic evidence, and was influential in the establishment of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, which works independently of the police and reports directly to the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
, and of which she served as director.
For her work, Pornthip was awarded the
Order of Chula Chom Klao
The Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์จุลจอมเกล้า; ) was established on 16 November 1873 by King Chulalongkorn, Rama V of The Thailand, Kingdom of ...
in 2003, granting her the title ''
Khunying Honorifics are a class of words or grammatical morphemes that encode a wide variety of social relationships between interlocutors or between interlocutors and referents.Foley, William. ''Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction''. Oxford: Blac ...
'' (equivalent to ''Lady''). However, she has also been criticised for using her position for self-promotion, as well as supporting the use of fake
GT200
The GT200 is a fraudulent " remote substance detector" that was claimed by its manufacturer, UK-based Global Technical Ltd, to be able to detect, from a distance, various substances including explosives and drugs. The GT200 was sold to a number ...
bomb detectors, which became a scandal in 2010. She has also been subjected to several defamation lawsuits due to her comments to the press, and was once put on probation by the
Medical Council for revealing case information.
Early life
As a child she had interests in forensics because both of her parents worked in the field. She was sent to an American boarding school, and after finishing boarding school she wanted to be an interior designer. However her father wanted her to become a doctor. Her forensic career started with an internship by studying forensic medicine, and performing autopsies. Pornthip is very proud of her work and that it "ensures her a place in heaven."
Government service
Graduating from the
Faculty of Medicine
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...
,
Mahidol University
Mahidol University (Mahidol), an autonomous research institution in Thailand, had its origin in the establishment of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. Mahidol had an acceptance rate for Medicine of 0.4% as of the 2016 academic year.
Becoming the Univers ...
, in 1979, Pornthip became a medical officer in the
Ministry of Public Health. She held several positions in the Ministry, all dealing with
pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
. In 2001, Pornthip was transferred to the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
to hold concurrently the positions of Director of the Medical Division at the Central Youth Detention Centre and Ministerial Spokesman.
She next served as Deputy Director (9th Class Administrative Officer) of the Central Institute of Forensic Science,
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
, since 2003, and was promoted to Director (10th Class Administrative Officer) by Prime Minister
Samak Sundaravej
Samak Sundaravej ( th, สมัคร สุนทรเวช, , ; 13 June 1935 – 24 November 2009) was a Thai politician who briefly served as the Prime Minister of Thailand and Minister of Defense in 2008, as well as the leader of the Peo ...
in 2008.
Pornthip's four-year term as CIFS Director expired in April 2012, and her term was extended for one more year. However,
Yingluck Shinawatra
Yingluck Shinawatra ( th, ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร, , ; ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou ( th, ปู, , , meaning "crab"), is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the Pri ...
's
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
removed her from the office in May 2013. Pornthip was appointed
Inspector General
An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general".
Australia
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...
of the Ministry of Justice.
Her removal was effective immediately and without any advance notice, while Pornthip was carrying out her official functions in the People's Republic of China. Pornthip felt her removal was motivated by politics, since some politicians might have been upset with her work.
A number of experts agreed with her, citing Pornthip's conflicts with the Royal Thai Police, which had caused her and her team to be barred from working in central Thailand and being sent to work in the south instead.
Following the June 2013 murder of
Akeyuth Anchanbutr
Akeyuth Anchanbutr ( th, เอกยุทธ อัญชันบุตร; ; 24 June 1954—7 June 2013) was a Thai pyramid scheme operator and political activist.
Akeyuth was the head of the controversial Charter Investment pyramid schem ...
, an outspoken critic of Yingluck's government, Pornthip was asked by the public to examine the case. However, she said she no longer had any authority to deal with such cases. Asked about her duties as Inspector General, she said they consisted of "only reviewing official papers".
Career
Pornthip first attracted widespread media attention when she investigated the
murder of Jenjira Ploy-angunsri in 1998. She rapidly became a celebrity pathologist and published a memoir, ''Seub Jaak Sop'' ("Investigating Corpses").
After the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
, Pornthip supervised the effort to identify the
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
victims in the
Phang Nga
Phang Nga ( th, พังงา, , ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phang Nga Province. The town covers the whole ''tambon'' Thai Chang of Mueang Phang Nga district. As of 2005 it had a population of 9,559 and ...
region. She and her team were widely praised for their hard work and dedication, but on 13 January 2005 Police General Nopadol Somboonsab complained that the police's identification centre in
Phuket
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
should have charge of all identification operations. Pornthip attributed the intervention to Nopadol's supposed personal vendetta against her. Nopadol was ultimately successful, and the Phang Nga operation was closed down on 3 February 2005. Her life story and her work in Phang Nga were documented in the 2004 ''
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' documentary ''Crime Scene Bangkok''.
In June 2009, she was one of the pathologists investigating the death of actor
David Carradine
David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...
.
In October 2009, she concluded that
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...
employee
Teoh Beng Hock
Teoh Beng Hock (20 April 1979 – 16 July 2009) was a Chinese Malaysian journalist and political aide to Ean Yong Hian Wah, a member of the Selangor state legislative assembly and state executive council. On 15 July 2009, the Malaysian Anti-Cor ...
, who had been detained by the Malaysian federal Government's
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( ms, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia), abbreviated MACC or ''SPRM'', (formerly known as Anti-Corruption Agency, ACA or ''Badan Pencegah Rasuah'', ''BPR'') is a government agency in Malaysia that ...
had an 80% probability of having been being murdered.
In April 2010, she was appointed to the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation or CRES (previously known as the Centre for the Administration of Public Order), a military organization charged with maintaining peace and order within Bangkok and the surrounding provinces during the massive anti-government protests in 2010. Dozens of protestors were killed and thousands injured in the CRES-ordered crackdown.
Pornthip's autobiography, which details her life and most prominent cases, has been translated into English and available through Amazon. In the book, Pornthip reiterates problems with state authorities in obtaining justice for those subject to injustice, a theme carried throughout the book. Frank G Anderson translated the core material for the autobiography.
Jenjira Ploy-angunsri murder investigation
After returning from her internship in Bangkok she come back to mystery involving a medical student who was missing for two weeks. The person police suspected to have had committed the crime was another medical student. After being interrogated by police the medical student confessed to the murder and claimed that he had done the crime in a hotel room. After that the Thai police closed the investigation but Rojanasunand had doubts about the story the medical student gave. She then re-interrogated the medical student and he changed his story from the one that he gave to the investigators. Then after her interrogation the government thought that she had made them look bad because of their decision to close the murder case after the first interrogation.
GT200 "bomb detectors"
Pornthip was a vocal and sustained supporter of the
GT200
The GT200 is a fraudulent " remote substance detector" that was claimed by its manufacturer, UK-based Global Technical Ltd, to be able to detect, from a distance, various substances including explosives and drugs. The GT200 was sold to a number ...
, a "remote substance detector" that Pornthip and the UK manufacturer claimed could detect from a distance various substances including explosives and dead bodies. Several nations have found the devices to be fraudulent.
2008 clashes between police and the
Peoples Alliance for Democracy
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD; th, พันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตย, Phanthamit Prachachon Pheu Prachathipatai; commonly known as "Yellow Shirts") is a Thai reactionary, m ...
resulted in one death and several serious injuries, but much confusion as to whether the injuries were caused by police tear gas grenades or
improvised explosive devices
An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...
carried by the protesters. Pornthip used a
GT200
The GT200 is a fraudulent " remote substance detector" that was claimed by its manufacturer, UK-based Global Technical Ltd, to be able to detect, from a distance, various substances including explosives and drugs. The GT200 was sold to a number ...
device to conclude that the protester injuries were not caused by explosives and concluded that tear gas grenades caused the injuries, leading to the removal from office of the national police chief. Queen
Sirikit
Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born ''Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was List of Thai royal consorts, ...
later attended the funeral of the fatality.
In the early months of the
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
-led government of
Abhisit Vejjajiva, western news agencies broke the news that up to 1,000
Rohingya
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
Muslim refugees from
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
had been captured by the Thai Navy, beaten, then towed out to sea without engines or navigational aids and with little food and water. The scandal and subsequent government cover-up sparked global criticism of the Thai military and Abhisit. The Thai military asked Pornthip to investigate some refugee boats that had landed on Thailand's
Andaman Andaman may refer to:
* Andaman Islands
* Andaman Sea
* ''Andaman'' (1998 film), a Kannada-language film
* ''Andaman'' (2016 film), a Tamil-language film
* ''Andaman'' (2021 film), a Hindi-language film
See also
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
...
coast. Pornthip found "substances and chemicals found that can be used in explosives" in one of the boats, leading the military to link the refugees to
Islamic insurgency in the South of Thailand.
Large protests against the
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
-led government were held in Bangkok in 2009, prompting a violent crackdown. Rumours of widespread killings were denied by the government, which pointed to the lack of bodies. When shipping containers rumoured to be filled with skeletons were found sunken off several coastal areas, Pornthip was assigned to help with the forensics. She suggested that rather than opening up the containers, GT200 bomb detectors using dead body "sensor cards" should be used.
When news of the fraudulent nature of the
GT200
The GT200 is a fraudulent " remote substance detector" that was claimed by its manufacturer, UK-based Global Technical Ltd, to be able to detect, from a distance, various substances including explosives and drugs. The GT200 was sold to a number ...
devices became public in 2010, Pornthip defended the use of the devices, even if they were proven ineffective. She noted, "I do not feel embarrassed if the bomb detector is proven ineffective. Personally, I have never handled the device myself. But my people have used it and it is accurate every time. Long long time ago, people believed that the Earth is flat and anyone who said otherwise faced execution. Things which are not visible does not necessarily mean they do not exist."
Media personality
A
media personality and the most famous pathologist in Thailand, Pornthip often appears on television sporting her unorthodox style: punk-rock hair dyed purplish red, eccentric clothing, and glittery eye makeup, and platform shoes.
The Thai English-language newspaper ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'' chose Pornthip, along with Chote Wattanachet and brothel-tycoon
Chuwit Kamolvisit
Chuwit Kamolvisit ( th, ชูวิทย์ กมลวิศิษฎ์; ; born 29 August 1961) is a controversial Thai politician who was once the country's biggest massage parlour owner, known as the "tub tycoon". After an arrest in 2003 ...
as persons of the year for 2003.
She was awarded the
Order of Chula Chom Klao
The Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์จุลจอมเกล้า; ) was established on 16 November 1873 by King Chulalongkorn, Rama V of The Thailand, Kingdom of ...
(fourth degree) and the honorific "
Khunying Honorifics are a class of words or grammatical morphemes that encode a wide variety of social relationships between interlocutors or between interlocutors and referents.Foley, William. ''Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction''. Oxford: Blac ...
" in 2003.
Her wax statue has been displayed at
Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...
in Bangkok since 2009, along with the statues of
Kukrit Pramoj and
Silpa Bhirasri
Silpa Bhirasri ( th, ศิลป์ พีระศรี; ; ), born Corrado Feroci (15 September 1892 – 14 May 1962), was a Tuscan-born Thai sculptor. He is considered the father of modern art in Thailand and was instrumental in the found ...
.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rojanasunan, Porntip
Porntip Rojanasunan
Porntip Rojanasunan
Forensic pathologists
Porntip Rojanasunan
Porntip Rojanasunan
Porntip Rojanasunan
1955 births
Living people
Detectives and criminal investigators
Porntip Rojanasunan