BURI RAM: A Grade 12 student was found dead in a forest behind her school after she and two classmates skipped a prayer class on Friday, police said.
Police have summoned teachers and administrative staff of Satuk School in Satuk district for questioning after Nichada Salangam, 17, was found dead of unknown causes in the nearby forest, Pol Capt Kriangsak Kitthaisong, an investigating officer at the Satuk station, said on Saturday.
Chularat, 17, a friend of Nichada, said she and her two friends had decided to skip their last class of the day. As they were eating some snacks beside the school building, a teacher saw them and tried to chase them, she said.
The three ran into the forest in different directions, and after classes were over, two of them came out but Nichada did not, she said.
Chularat said she initially thought that Nichada already got off her school bus and returned home, but she later learned that her friend’s body had been found in the forest that night.
Nichada’s father Nirut Salangam, 40, said he was puzzled by the death of his daughter. None of the teachers have provided any explanation and they have not contacted his family to show responsibility.
He said that he learned from a doctor’s phone call that his daughter had died, but the school should have notified him first.
The doctor told him that his daughter had died of heart failure but did not elaborate further, he added.
Pol Col Wachirawit Wanthanee, chief of Satuk police, said officers found no traces of bruising on the body of the Mathayom Suksa 6 student. Doctors examining the body believed she might have had heart failure, he said.
Classmates told police that they had noticed how Nichada often gasped, even when walking up the stairs, for the past two years, he said.
Police recommended that the body be sent for a post-mortem examination at a hospital to find out the exact cause of death. However, the family did not want to do so. They had no doubts about the death but were still struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss, said Pol Col Wachirawit.
The father said he wanted everyone, including the teachers, the students and those who found his daughter’s body and took her to the hospital, to clarify what had happened.
Mr Nirut and his family also have a YouTube channel with some 740,000 followers. Many of the videos are about interacting with elephants.
