Former MP and red shirt leader Payap Panket was hospitalized with mysterious leg swelling suffered while serving his four-year sentence in Pattaya Remand Prison.
The former Thai Rak Thai politician who helped orchestrate the violent protest at the ASEAN summit at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort in 2009 and led the storming of Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn Hospital 2010 was taken to Banglamung Hospital May 4.
The cause of the swelling is unknown, as Payap has refused all visitors. Doctors at the prison reportedly had been treating him for some time with no success, eventually deciding to transfer him to the hospital.
Payap is among 13 people, including senior anti-government agitator Arisman Pongruangrong, serving time in two Pattaya-area penitentiaries for their role in the 2009 storming of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting.
In March, the Appeals Court upheld the entirety of the Pattaya Provincial Court’s earlier decision convicting them of defying an order prohibiting rallies of more than 10 people and violating traffic regulations. The court confirmed the four-year sentences without suspension. The case is being appealed to the Supreme Court.
