Grandson Identifies Grandfather Found Dead in Chao Phraya River
An elderly man found floating in the Chao Phraya River near Bangkok was identified by his grandson as his missing 72-year-old grandfather, who had a blood disorder and had gone missing the previous day.
At 6 p.m. on September 23, Samut Prakan City Police received word of a body floating in the Chao Phraya River near the Talat Hua Koh embankment in Samut Prakan province. Officers coordinated with the Samut Prakan Charity Foundation to investigate. They found an elderly man face-down in the water wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts, with no visible signs of violence. As the foundation was preparing to transport the body to Samut Prakan Hospital for autopsy, Nathawut Korthong, 20, arrived on a motorcycle asking to see the body. When charity workers uncovered it, he cried out in recognition—it was his grandfather Amnuay, 72, who had gone missing the previous day and whose family had posted appeals on social media.
Nathawut tearfully recounted that he had spoken to his grandfather before leaving for work that morning in good spirits, a change he attributed to his own self-improvement after witnessing his grandparents' hardship. He said his grandfather was waiting for his grandmother to return from selling goods at a market, and that there had been no warning signs. The grandfather had been ill with a blood-related condition and had grown thin recently, though he continued to eat normally. Prior to the incident, his grandmother had encouraged him to take his medicine on time and rest.
Luang Aek, the market caretaker who first spotted the body, said he recognized the deceased as a man he had seen wandering the area and sometimes asking for money. Though he initially could not identify the body because its face was submerged, he recognized it immediately once officers lifted and turned it over. Luang Aek emphasized that this section of the river, where it curves sharply with swirling currents, regularly traps bodies that drift downstream—dozens of them over time—and that such discoveries have become routine for him. He firmly stated there was no indication the man had fallen into the water from this location, as locals would have reported it immediately.
