Convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection, a 36-year-old Thai woman, Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, who killed her friend with cyanide. This case stands out as the first of the alleged 14 murders in connection with her, making her one of Thailand’s most notorious serial killers.
She was reportedly addicted to online gambling as she conspired to trick her victims with large amounts before killing them. On Wednesday, a court in Bangkok convicted her of murdering her friend, Siriporn Kanwong, in April 2023. The two had met near Bangkok for a Buddhist ritual involving releasing fish into the Mae Klong River. After dining together, Siriporn collapsed and later died. Her belongings, including her phone and money, were missing. A postmortem revealed cyanide traces in her body, prompting an investigation that uncovered Sararat’s connection to a series of similar poisonings dating back to 2015.
Siriporn’s mother, Tongpin Kiatchanasiri, is seeking a positive view of the guilty verdict, saying “The court’s decision is just. I want to tell my daughter that I miss her very much, and justice has been served for her today.” She said that Sararat seemed to smile when her sentence was read in court.
Police said that Sararat financed her gambling habit by robbing victims of their money once she had poisoned them. In one case, she borrowed 300,000 baht ($9,000) before murdering the victim. Sararat lured 15 people to consume “herbal capsules” poisoned with cyanide; one of them survived.
Sararat is now tried for 13 more murders and over 80 crimes. Her ex-husband, Vitoon Rangsiwuthaporn, a retired police officer, was jailed as well for helping her escape, along with one of her lawyers. All deny charges.
The court ordered Sararat to pay Siriporn’s family two million baht, approximately $57,667 in compensation. Cyanide poisoning deprives cells of oxygen, causing symptoms such as dizziness and vomiting, and can cause death if not properly treated.
In early this year, traces of cyanide have been linked to the deaths of six foreign tourists in Bangkok, further raising alarms over its lethal potential.
