Thailand's 'Doctor Death' transforms police work

Posted Mon Dec 3, 2007 7:44pm AEDT

After examining more than 10,000 corpses in her 30-year career, Thailand's leading forensics expert Porntip Rojanasunan says she believes the spirits of the dead have become her guardian angels.

"Spirits of the dead keep protecting me," said Dr Porntip, known in Thailand as Doctor Death.

With crimson lipstick and multi-coloured spiked hair, Dr Porntip has stood up to police bullying and death threats as she pursues goals she says the spirits have set up for her.

"They want me to do two things. First, they want me to improve forensic science in Thailand. Second, they want me to establish an institute for missing persons in Thailand," said the 52-year-old pathologist.

In addition to examining thousands of bodies, Dr Porntip led massive forensic operations after the 2004 tsunami tragedy and pioneered the introduction of DNA testing as a criminal investigative tool in the kingdom.

A cancer survivor, she has fought death one-on-one, and has battled the country's male-dominated criminal justice establishment, which has been quick to belittle one of the most powerful women in the profession.

The outspoken doctor frequently appears in the media to challenge autopsy findings by police, who control all aspects of criminal investigation in Thailand.

As a result, she has become a prime target for harassment, bullying and lawsuits.

"Police ... they don't like me. They say bad things about me, like, I'm not a good doctor, or I steal money. Because they see me as a threat undermining their power," she said.

Battle with authority

As an example of police reluctant to make use of science in their investigations, she told the story of a man who three years ago was suspected of killing his wife, who had been found dead in his house with five bullet wounds on his body.

Police said the man shot himself, but Dr Porntip disputed their finding.

"What I found was not compatible with suicide. Blood patterns and a position of his gun indicated he was murdered," she said in an interview at her office.

Dr Porntip went on television to knock down the police account, and very quickly drew scorn and ridicule from them, with a senior police officer accusing her of just wanting to become a celebrity.

"I only want justice, and I only want the public to pay attention to our criminal justice system," Dr Porntip said.

A court eventually ruled the death was indeed murder, but that did not stop the Thai police from suing Dr Porntip for defamation. A judge tossed out the suit.

She says her toughest case so far was the death of Hangthong Thammawattana, a rich and famous lawmaker in Bangkok who at age 50 was found dead with a gun in his right hand in his younger brother's bedroom in 1999.

Police said Mr Hangthong committed suicide, but Dr Porntip's autopsy report found he had not only been shot but might also have been hit across the head with a hard object.

"The position of his body, blood patterns and the position of his gun all pointed out that this man was killed. He did not commit suicide," she says.

While working on the Hangthong case, Dr Porntip received anonymous calls from a man warning that she should quit the case or would be dead by "tomorrow morning".

But Dr Porntip, who has survived two gruelling battles with thyroid and colon cancer, refused to give in.

"My father taught me to be strong," she said. Both her parents were scientists.

Mr Hangthong's younger brother, Noppadol Thammawattana, was eventually charged with the murder, but a criminal court in September this year acquitted him in a verdict that was splashed across front pages of Thai papers.

High-profile contribution

Dr Porntip has single-handedly urged the Government to take forensic science more seriously, and helped create the Forensic Institute under the justice ministry in 2002.

In 2003, the Thai king recognised her public works, including many years of teaching at Ramathibodi Hospital of Mahidol University, with the title Khunying, equivalent to the British Dame.

But Dr Porntip says nothing prepared her for the unprecedented forensic operations in the wake of the tsunami disaster in December 2004.

About 5,400 people - half of them foreign holiday-makers - were killed in Thailand alone after the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the kingdom's southern resort island of Phuket and other provinces along the Andaman coast.

Dr Porntip rushed to the site and took charge of identifying the dead, which became one of the world's largest-ever forensics jobs.

"I just wanted to help. But it was very difficult because there was no coordination," she said.

"The most important lesson I learned from the tsunami is that we need a special organisation that can coordinate with various Government agencies during times of large-scale natural disasters," Dr Porntip said.

DNA database

She has now set her sites on an insurgency in Thailand's Muslim-majority south where thousands of people have been killed in almost daily shootings, bombings and ambushes since January 2004.

Mainly Buddhist Thailand annexed the troubled region bordering Malaysia a century ago and separatist violence has flared periodically since.

"I recognise problems in the south. The situation there is like a war, and I really want to help my country," Dr Porntip.

She has helped set up a DNA database for local authorities in the south to identify suspects and victims.

She says her forensic team mostly works with the military due to the violence, adding that police rarely cooperate with them.

"Senior police officers ordered low-ranking officers not to talk to me. But they cannot stop me from working," she said.

She has also collected DNA samples from teachers and students at Islamic schools to try to exonerate people who feel they have been wrongly accused by authorities.

"My daughter does not want me to work in the south. She is worried about my safety," she says, referring to 15-year-old Yarawee, her only child with banker husband Vichai, 55.

Burning ambition

But Dr Porntip says she cannot slow down until she succeeds in setting up a national institute for missing persons.

"Creating such an institute is my next goal. Also this is the second wish of my spirits of the dead," she said.

Each year hundreds of unidentified bodies are found in Thailand, especially in the violence-torn south and northern provinces bordering Myanmar, the doctor says.

"In five to 10 years, all of these unidentified remains will be cremated with no investigation, and I want to stop that," she says.

Having met more corpses than mortals in her life, Dr Porntip says she has learned a lot from the dead.

"We cannot control our lives, and I try to be happy all the time," she said.

-AFP

She is also the author of quite a few best-selling books (in the Thai language).

I think that she is just awesome!

I totally agree. She is a great model for Thai and foreign women alike. I saw, not long ago a documentary on her. It was very insightful into her private life and work that she does and specifically the case of the business man in Bangkok who she disputed commited suicide. Also the documentary looked at her help and involvement after the tsunami. There were interviews with both her supporters and critics, so allowed for the viewer to balance up the viewpoints. It is a shame and disgrace that someone who is doing such a service to the Thai community and country has to fight against so much negative critizism and obstacles. I wonder if a man was in her position he would have as many obstacles to overcome. !!!!!!!!

I think that she is just awesome!

Me too! I love her. She is intelligent, trustworthy, and has tons of integrity, in a land where it would be so much easier to be the opposite. And, she is a woman to boot, with her own style! I love her, and the columnist for the Bangkok Post, Santisuda Ekachai.

I admire Dr. Porntip Rojanasuna, her strength to fight back those harassment, bullying and lawsuit. It is very difficult for Thai women with strong personality to work in male-dominated environment both in public and private sectors in Thailand. Many Thai women admire her, but some don't, some say "she's too strong, too straight-forward, not beautiful ", think of characters that Thai society expects from women, women in soap opera, commercials, articles, etc. women in those media and false value that teach how to be rich and famous quickly seem to be accepted easily as role model much more than women with capability and hard working, that's sad. Many Thai women had tried to stand up for their right and justice but it's ashamed many cases were clouded with prejudice and twisted things around.

I also like the fact that she appears to have courage, integrity as well as personal style although I suspect they broke after mold when she was born.

i saw a great documentary on her on national geographic recently... she really is a cool lady.

She sounds fab!

It is very difficult for Thai women with strong personality to work in male-dominated environment both in public and private sectors in Thailand.

Disagree slightly. According to my observations such environment breeds the most unusual kind of women. Everywhere. Some are more visible than the others, but they all are incredibly strong.

I come across some very able Thai women down at the University.

It is not polite to enquire, but quite often it slips out that thay have had early encouragement from their parents.

Also they have come up on a rougher, tougher road than the men, and so have usually developed more competence.

Being a product of two Yorkshire matriarchies (both of my grandmothers having been formidable women, to say the least), they soon suss that I don't have the MCP thing, and I get some informative insights into Thai society.

In return, I often proffer them the philosophy of one of my schoolmasters: "What doesn't actually kill you, strengthens you". That often gets a reply on the lines of: "So true."

Another 'innocent-farang' line that I have is : " I wonder how many years away Thailand is from getting its first woman Prime Minister?".

Oh, boy. Can Thai women ever roll their eyes!!

But sometimes we get into a discussion of whether one of our undergraduates today might not have that as her destiny.

The waning of industrialism, consumerism, the insufficiently-sustainable economy, and so forth, is going to have some interesting facets. And, on average, women may turn out more competent at adapting to them than men.

Much respect for this extraordinary very intelligent lady .

I hope she manages to maintain her many strengths and continues with the missing person aspect. I met

a man in Dubai last year on my way back to UK who was very much involved in an agency of this type

which did however seem a bit undermanned for the scale of the problem. However I felt so much better

after having met him as suffering total anxiety (unnecessary as it happens) at the time - having gone home preceeding my

son and nephew's flight. People of this kind give a feeling of hope for the future of Thailand

But couldn't they have come up with a nicer nickname for this lady? Like "Dr. Detective" or something. . .

Me too! I love her. She is intelligent, trustworthy, and has tons of integrity, in a land where it would be so much easier to be the opposite. And, she is a woman to boot, with her own style! I love her, and the columnist for the Bangkok Post, Santisuda Ekachai.

Kat, I couldn't agree more with your statement about Ms. Pornthip. She's got an uphill battle facing off with the Thai police and their vast network of old-boy corruption (I remember many of her interviews and controversies during the tsunami tragedy).

I also agree with you about Santisuda Ekachai. Ladies, if you have not heard of her, please read her columns in the BKK Post. Personal story: When I first came to Thailand in 2001, I was a teacher at a Bilingual school out on Ramintra Road and I taught K1. One of the girls in K3 class was Ms. Santisuda's daughter and darned if I can't remember her name (it WAS nearly 7 years ago, so....) She was so highly intelligent and creative. As a Christmas gift one year, Ms. Ekachai gave me a book she authored called "Seeds of Hope - Local Initiatives in Thailand", very well written from 1994. She has also written a book about the power and corruption within some of the religious organizations in Thailand, especially at Wat Dhammakaya - of which the founder of the school her daughter attended was an ardent devotee (and I have been to that place and it is impressive in its size and the splendor of it displays its wealth; there is nothing humble about Wat Dhammakaya).

Thanks for that article...she is a truely amazing woman. I actually met her in Khao Lak after the tsunami and the strength she has is just incredible. And to stand up alone to all the corruption in the police force takes enormous courage and I would totally believe she has angels looking after her to still be alive to tell her tale.