David Carradine, Thai Rath and the FBI
The family of the late actor David Carradine have launched strong anti-Thailand criticism touched off by the death of the TV and movie star.
They are “profoundly disturbed” by publication of a forensics photo in a Bangkok newspaper, claim that the Thai pathologist is incompetent, [KC: First time I have ever heard this charge levied at Khunying Pornthip] want to go around the Thai police with FBI investigators - and threaten to sue any Thai media printing additional photos of Carradine after his death.
US authorities have not answered the family’s demands for help from the FBI and an independent pathologist - at least officially.
But Thai authorities have been restrained in their reaction.
“I am confident we are working on the right track,” Pol Col Somprasong Yenthaum, who is leading the probe, told the French news agency AFP.
“US embassy representatives saw every step of the investigation process in the hotel room.”
He said Carradine’s relatives had the right to seek help from the FBI, but added that the bureau would have to contact Thailand’s attorney general who would then decide whether to forward the request to the police.
“We can work with FBI if they request and their request is passed. But if they don’t come, we can do our jobs,” he added.
Chief forensic investigator on the case is Thailand’s chief pathologist, Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand, who is director of the Forensic Science Institute. She is well known internationally, and considered a highly credible state official.
Her initial autopsy report revealed that the actor died from a sudden lack of oxygen and his body showed no signs of struggle. She has promised a final report on Carradine’s death in three to four weeks.
Carradine’s brother Keith has filed reports with the FBI that could lead to the agency’s involvement, said Mark Geragos, attorney for the “Kung Fu” actor’s half-brother. The FBI confirmed that Carradine’s family had contacted the agency.
The body of the dead actor has been sent to the US after the Thai autopsy. The actor’s family said they hope the body will arrive in Los Angeles by Monday.
The family will also seek an independent autopsy by famed US forensic pathologist Dr Michael Baden to determine whether another person could have been involved,
A chambermaid found Carradine’s body Thursday in a closet in his room at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Thai authorities said they have all but ruled out foul play, based on surveillance footage and interviews with hotel staff that indicate no one was in Carradine’s room before he died, said Pol Col Somprasong.
It has been widely speculated that the actor accidentally asphyxiated himself while involved in masturbation.
A grainy photo published on the Saturday front page of Thai Rath newspaper shows a naked body suspended from a clothes bar in a hotel closet, hands apparently bound together above the head and feet on the floor. The face is blacked out and other areas are obscured.
The paper did not indicate the source of the image, but Thai police said they believed it was a picture of Carradine’s body taken by a forensics team.
Keith Carradine said in a statement that the family was “profoundly disturbed by the release in Thailand of photographs taken at the scene of David Carradine’s death,” and threatened legal action against further distribution.
KC: It is disgraceful, but not surprising that Thai Rath published this picture. The newspaper, Thailand’s most widely-read rag, has a long history of insensitivity and disregard for the families of the deceased (See this post by the Bangkok Bugle which also raises interesting questions over David Carradine’s family’s intention to take legal action).
Carradine’s family are angry with Thailand because of the publication of the photgraph and for what they see as incompentence on behalf of Pornthip and the police. “Thai authorities said they have all but ruled out foul play, based on surveillance footage and interviews with hotel staff that indicate no one was in Carradine’s room before he died, said Pol Col Somprasong” Thai police are certainly often quick to rule out foul play, preferring a quick explanation if one can be found, especially in cases with ramifications for Thailand’s international reputation and image.
We must now await Pornthip’s final autopsy report and the report of US forensic pathologist Dr Michael Baden.
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June 8th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
The distress felt by Carradine’s family must have been made a lot worse by the crass insensitivity of Thai Rath but it’s unfortunate that they seem to be venting their anger on Khunying Porntip, who is potentially their greatest ally in Thailand. It’s lucky that she has a thick skin.
June 8th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Indeed, there is no one better in Thailand than Khunying Pornthip to get to the bottom of ambiguous cases.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:38 am
He chose to live in the warm glow of the public life,
why not in death?