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Published on December 13, 2007

 A cafe singer was killed by a 1.5-kilogram rock thrown at her by two young men on a motorbike following a verbal exchange of abuse, police said yesterday.

Police arrived at the scene in Muang Kamphaeng Phet just after midnight to find a pool of blood and the rock in front of Manida Cafe.

They were told that Saowapa Petchlek, 20, was already hospitalised, said Lt-Colonel Panya Puangmalai of Kamphaeng Phet Police Station.

At 2am, she was pronounced dead.

Her co-worker, Rungtiwa Phosuwan, 24, told police that she and Saowapa were sitting in front of the cafe around closing time when two male teenagers on a Suzuki passed by calling for "Nong Beer", to which she replied with rude remarks and identifying one of the teens as "Ek".

Ten minutes later, the two came back and threw the rock at where they were sitting. It hit Saowapa in the chest, causing her to lose consciousness and fall off the chair. She was rushed to Kamphaeng Phet Hospital.

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Nakhon si thammarat

Ministry to help jailed doctor

The Public Health Ministry is throwing its full support behind a doctor in Nakhon Si Thammarat who was convicted of criminal medical malpractice last Thursday.

"The Health Ministry won't let her fight alone," Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said yesterday.

The ministry will provide a lawyer and legal assistant and set up a legal fund with donations for Dr Suthiporn Kraimak, he said.

The Thonsong court sentenced her to three years in jail for causing the death of a patient by mistakenly injecting an anaesthetic into the patient's spinal canal.

Mongkol said he had talked to her and found she had enough grounds to appeal.

The ministry has formed a committee to negotiate with the victim's relatives over compensation.

He said the ministry had to take responsibility for this case because Suthiporn had practised at Ron Phibun Hospital, which was under the ministry.

For long-term assistance, the ministry would accept the Appeal Court's verdict and help Suthiporn change her workplace or study abroad if she so desires.

However, Mongkol said he was worried about the impact of Suthiporn's case on the medical fraternity. He said doctors in state hospitals across the country would lack the confidence to treat patients, fearing a similar fate if they made any accidental medical mistakes. 

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Thonburi

Prison to release 270 inmates

The Corrections Department will release the first batch of 270 inmates who were pardoned by His Majesty the King from Thonburi Special Prison tomorrow at 2pm, a senior official said yesterday.

Each will receive Bt500 assistance money for expenses, said deputy director-general Preeyaporn Srimongkol.

Related agencies such as social welfare offices will also assist some of the 2,000 freed inmates who had no relatives or were disabled, too old to care for themselves or had Aids symptoms, she said.

Following the royal decree announcement of the royal pardon for qualified inmates earlier this week, prisons nation-wide started releasing inmates, with Buri Ram Prison freeing 300 and Chon Buri Prison releasing 80.

The Nation