Detained student activist Sirapob Phumphengphut has been admitted to Thammasat University Hospital after spending 22 days on a hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoners.

Sirapob has been detained since 25 March 2024, after the South Bangkok Criminal Court found him guilty of royal defamation and sentenced him to 2 years in prison over a speech given at a protest on 18 November 2020 about the monarchy’s role in Thai politics. He went on a hunger strike on 21 February 2025 after being detained for over 300 days and repeatedly denied bail.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said on Thursday (13 March) that the Corrections Hospital was going to refer Sirapob to Thammasat University Hospital for additional examination, after he reported having difficulty breathing and a slower pulse than usual. A doctor at the Corrections Hospital has reportedly examined Sirapob and said that his results were normal, but wanted him to go to Thammasat University Hospital for an electrocardiography to make sure.

After 22 days of hunger strike, Sirapob has lost over 9 kg in weight. A lawyer who visited him reported that he was brought to the visiting area in a wheelchair and could not sit without leaning on the wall or the wheelchair’s armrest. He also told the lawyer that his muscles have been twitching, which he said doctors suspected to be because his heart muscle is beginning to break down.

On Friday (14 March), Sirapob was taken to Thammasat University Hospital. TLHR reported that Sirapob was found to have a very low potassium level, and that he and his family wanted him admitted to Thammasat University Hospital. However, they were told that they need a referral letter from the Corrections Hospital. A doctor at Thammasat University Hospital called the Corrections Hospital, and was told that the Corrections Hospital is capable of taking care of him and that it has a nutritionist, so the doctor believed that he could not be admitted to Thammasat University Hospital.

Following further coordination, it was found that corrections officials who accompanied Sirapob to Thammasat University Hospital had already given a referral letter to Thammasat University Hospital, but there was some confusion, which led the doctors to believe that they could not admit Sirapob.

Later in the evening, the Director of Bangkok Remand Prison brought a new referral letter to Thammasat University Hospital. Sirapob’s family then received the confirmation that he would be admitted there.