A portrait of Suwit Watnoo is placed next to his coffin at Wat Sammaki Banprot.

Suwit, 54, was rushed to Kasemrat Hospital on Sunday night and later pronounced dead of sudden heart attack.

Suwit's wife, Suwannee, said she found her husband lying unconscious in bed after returning home from a meeting on Sunday. After a medical examination doctors at Kasemrat said Suwit succumbed to a heart attack before arriving at the hospital, she said.

"There was no sign of a serious ailment that evening. He just complained of a backache, which he usually had once in a while, then asked me to give him a back massage, took a sleeping pill and went to bed," Suwannee said, adding that Suwit always took a sleeping pill when he had a backache to help him sleep.

The funeral for Suwit will be held at Samakkhi Banpot Temple in Chon Buri's Sattahip district until Friday (March 16) with the cremation on June 9.

Suwit was one of Thailand's leading political activists and once served as secretary general and adviser for the Campaign for Popular Democracy. He took an active role in political activities during three major political uprisings in October 1973, October 1976 and May 1992.

Recently, Suwit joined the People's Alliance for Democracy and organised street campaigns to oust former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He was one of those who took to the stage to speak against Thaksin and his government.

Suwit began his career as a teacher at a vocational college in Bangkok after graduating from the Education Faculty at Srinakarinwirot University's Bang Saen Campus.

He was one of many in the educated "elite" who joined the underground jungle movement of the now-defunct Communist Party, after facing a government crackdown in the wake of the political strife on October 6, 1976.

Suwit joined the Duang Prateep slum foundation in 1985 after the government granted an amnesty to members of the communist movement.

From 1989 to the present, he worked for the Human Settlement Foundation, serving in roles from member to secretary general. He was also an adviser to the Assembly of the Poor and the Provincial Slum Network and once served as secretary general of the October's People Network.

For fellow activists, Suwit was recognised for his key role in supporting civic groups' fights for better housing rights for slum dwellers and for ways to address problems of rural people affected by government projects.

Campaign for Popular Democracy chairman Pipop Thongchai yesterday described Suwit's passing as a great loss.

"To me, this could be the biggest loss in my lifetime, for people who devote themselves to social works," Pipop said.

He hailed Suwit as a real "people's warrior" always ready to fight for the poor.

"Among social workers I know, Suwit is the one who worked the hardest for the poor. That's why he won so much love among them," Pipop said.

Sangwian Nujthian, 46, a slum activist who worked with Suwit for 20 years, said he and people in the Bang Na area were very saddened by Suwit's death.

"He has always stood by the poor. It's a big discouragement that we have lost him," he said.

Somroutai Sapsomboon

The Nation