LOEI, Thailand – The family of a Thai vocational student found dead in Japan after going missing for over a month is appealing for government assistance to repatriate his body and investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Nannapat Tanming, the aunt of Kornaphat Phromsung, also known as “Nong Nut,” told reporters that her nephew had been working in Hiroshima as part of a three-year internship program after graduating from a technical college in Loei province, Thailand. He was scheduled to return to Thailand on April 22, 2025.
On the night of December 21, 2024, Kornaphat attended a year-end party organized by his company at his dormitory. Afterward, he and about nine colleagues went to a Thai restaurant in Hiroshima, approximately 50 kilometers from their workplace, taking a chartered taxi.
Nannapat said her nephew had been in contact with her and his girlfriend in Thailand via online messaging and live video streaming throughout the evening. Contact ceased around 2 a.m. Thailand time.
The following morning, Kornaphat’s girlfriend couldn’t reach him. She contacted his colleagues, who searched for him but were unable to locate him. They assumed he had returned to his accommodation.
After several days without any contact, the family reached out to the internship program organizers, who filed a missing person report with Japanese authorities on December 23, 2024.
The family even contacted the Thai restaurant, but staff denied knowing anything about the incident.
Last week, the family received the devastating news that Kornaphat had been found dead near an emergency exit at the same Thai restaurant.
Nannaphat urged the government to help repatriate her nephew’s remains and ensure a thorough investigation into his death, which the family suspects may have been a homicide.
According to Thai consulate in Japan, Japanese police would conduct a further autopsy this Wednesday and expedite the investigation into the cause of death. (TNA)
