Thailand’s well-known forensic expert, Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, said today that a report from the second autopsy on drowned TV actress Nida Patcharaveerapong, aka “Tangmo”, may be available in two weeks and is expected to be in the same line of the first autopsy, as she dismissed widespread doubts about the initial autopsy performed by the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital.
From her observations of Nida’s body and the pictures taken by pathologists, she said Nida’s teeth were not missing, as had been rumoured amid speculation that Nida might have been attacked on board the speed boat. She added that there were no wounds on her face or head either.
Khunying Porntip was one of a handful of observers at a second autopsy, performed today (Thursday) at Thammasat University Hospital, which was jointly undertaken by forensic doctors from Ramathibodi, Chulalongkorn and Thammasat University hospitals.
Noting the cut in Nida’s leg, Khunying Porntip suggested that the police and pathologists should try to figure out what object caused the cut, by simulating the circumstances when the late actress fell into the river.
Forensic examination, she said, is just a part of the story, the other part is the police investigation, as she suggested that they should work harder to resolve this high-profile case.
The pathologists tried to clear up the questions over 11 areas of Nida’s body, which were indicated by her mother as signs of foul play, such as wounds to the head, face, neck, chest, leg, wind pipe, genitals, as well as the body suit she wore on the night of her fatal fall into the Chao Phraya River.
The institute’s Director Pol Col Songsak Raksaksakul asked members of the public to trust the pathologists.
