Student-Dressed Councilman Found Dead After Overnight Disappearance
A 59-year-old tambon council member studying as an undergraduate was found dead in a coconut plantation drainage ditch in Samut Songkhram after disappearing en route to class on August 1; authorities suspect a medical emergency caused him t
On August 2, 2025, police sergeant Pisit Noopinithorn from Bang Khun police station responded to a report of a body and motorcycle in a coconut plantation drainage ditch at Soi 1, Moo 6, Ban Bang Yi Long, Samut Songkhram province. Officers arrived with Dr. Naphatthorn Tanstirrapong from Naphaly Hospital and rescue workers from the Sahaparachen Samut Songkhram Foundation.
At the scene—a road within the plantation with a water channel running alongside—they found the body of 59-year-old Sompresoeng (surname withheld), a tambon subdistrict council member for Sector 2, lying face-down in a student uniform. The body showed signs of decomposition, suggesting death occurred at least 20 hours earlier. Nearby lay an overturned Yamaha motorcycle bearing a Ratchaburi license plate, and a black bag containing school materials—books, notebooks, and pens—were recovered as evidence.
According to witness Bunpong (surname withheld), age 63, also a council member and the man who discovered the scene, Sompresoeng had departed that morning of August 1 to attend an undergraduate program at Maha Chulalongkorn Buddhist University's Faculty of Social Sciences campus at Wat Intaram in Samut Songkhram, approximately 10 kilometers away. However, he never arrived at class.
When fellow students realized he was missing and unreachable, they organized a search along his route without success. This morning, they found his motorcycle and body in the plantation ditch.
Sompresoeng's wife, Pikul, age 62, disclosed that her husband suffered from chronic conditions including high blood pressure, an enlarged heart, and irregular heartbeat before he dressed in his student uniform and left home as usual. After learning he had not attended class and could not be reached, the family and friends became concerned and began searching.
Initially, authorities suspect that while riding his motorcycle to class, Sompresoeng experienced a medical collapse triggered by his chronic illness, causing him to lose control and plunge into the drainage ditch. Officers will conduct a preliminary autopsy and further investigation to determine the exact cause of death.
