Political activist Netiporn "Bung" Sanesangkhom suffered cardiac arrest last Tuesday morning and was pronounced dead just before noon, according to a statement from Thailand's Corrections Department.
The 28-year-old woman died in pre-trial detention, not long after coming off hunger strike. She was facing trial for "insulting" Thailand's royal family.
Bung had two charges of lese majeste pending against her, both of them involving conducting polls in public spaces in 2022 asking people's opinion about the royal family, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a legal aid group.
Bung had been staunchly opposed to Thailand's taboo lese majeste law, which is one of the strictest in the world and carries lengthy prison sentences — up to 15 years per offense — for those who criticize the monarchy.
She had been imprisoned since January 26, initially Netiporn was held for one month on a contempt of court charge related to a scuffle with court guards in 2023, TLHR said.
Her pre-trial detention was extended after a court revoked her bail from a separate royal insult case stemming from a protest in 2022, the legal aid group said.
Bung began her hunger strike on January 27 to advocate for a reform of the Thai monarchy and to demand that nobody be imprisoned for holding or expressing dissenting opinions.
She started drinking water in late........