Netiporn Sanesangkhom

Netiporn Sanesangkhom (Thai: เนติพร เสน่ห์สังคม; 8 August 1995 – 14 May 2024), better known as Bung (บุ้ง), was a Thai political activist focused on monarchy reform.^[1] She initially participated in protests with the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), a right-wing movement in Thailand. However, after listening to other activists about the crackdown on the Red Shirt 2010 protests at Ratchaprasong, Bung became an anti-monarchy activist.^[2]

In 2020, Bung became a leader of a monarchy reform group—Thaluwang [th] (meaning "break through the palace").^[1][3] As a result, she was charged with multiple criminal charges, including lèse-majesté charges. While detained on these charges, Bung and other detainees protested the Thai justice system by going on a hunger strike, which severely damaged her health. They had two demands: reform of the justice system, and to stop imprisoning political dissenters.^[4][5] She began a hunger strike in June 2022, which continued for 64 days.^[6] She began another hunger strike on 27 January 2024, a day after she was detained.^[7] On 14 May 2024, Bung died at Thammasat University Hospital from sudden cardiac arrest, after being transferred from the Central Women's Correctional Institution of the Department of Corrections.^[8] The total duration of Bung's temporary detention, from the start of her hunger strike protest to the day of her death, was 109 days.^[9]

However, the cause of her death remains a mystery, whether she really died from sudden cardiac arrest or due to a lack of timely medical treatment, since Thammasat University Hospital told her lawyer that the hospital found that the medical treatment from the Department of Corrections was done incorrectly.^[10] The lawyer told the press that:^[11]

... The endotracheal tube, which is normally inserted into the trachea, was mistakenly placed in the esophagus. This caused the measurement of her breathing to show zero respiration when she arrived at Thammasat University Hospital. It is unclear why no report was made, and why the treatment was concealed... The question arises whether the Department of Corrections had inserted the breathing tube into her esophagus while she was still on the bed, and if this mistake was the cause of Bung's death.