Thai Serial Killer Sentenced to Death Again Over Killings Linked to Gambling Debt

Thailand’s criminal court has given Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, known colloquially as “Am Cyanide,” a second death sentence for fatally poisoning a creditor in Nakhon Pathom province in December 2020. According to prosecutors, Sararat is a gambling addict who has killed 14 people and attempted to poison another for financial gain. Am Cyanide Handed a Second Death Sentence Prosecutors told the court that Sararat, 39, had mixed potassium cyanide into food and served it to 34-year-old Darinee Thepthawee. According to court documents, Sararat had borrowed THB 60,000 (about $1,850) from Darinee and persuaded her to join three informal savings schemes that promised combined returns of around THB 200,000 ($6,150). In December 2020, Sararat lured Darinee to a local market, where prosecutors alleged that she served her food laced with potassium cyanide. After returning home, Darinee told her husband that she was feeling unwell. She subsequently suffered convulsions and muscle rigidity, began foaming at the mouth, and eventually lost consciousness. An autopsy conducted by toxicology and forensic specialists at Siriraj Hospital concluded that Darinee died from multiple organ failure. Sararat Had Killed 14 People to Settle Gambling Debt Sararat was arrested in Bangkok on April 25, 2023, after the family of a previous alleged victim, Siriporn Kanwong, 32, became suspicious about her sudden death. Siriporn collapsed and died on the banks of the Mae Klong River in Ratchaburi on April 14 after accompanying Sararat to release fish as part of a Buddhist merit-making ritual. Forensic tests later detected cyanide in Siriporn’s body, prompting investigators to suspect that Sararat had poisoned her before taking her belongings. Police said Sararat was found carrying a bottle of cyanide when she was arrested. Police began investigating other people who had died suddenly after spending time with Sararat. Investigators found that many of the victims had financial ties to her, including loans, car transactions and participation in informal savings schemes. Sararat’s killing spree shocked the nation and prompted heightened scrutiny of controls on toxic chemicals. Police determined that 15 people had been poisoned across seven provinces between 2015 and her arrest in 2023, with only one surviving. Investigators found that the victims had been with Sararat just hours before their deaths. Among her alleged victims are an ex-boyfriend and three female police officers. During the investigation, authorities found that Sararat had spent THB 78 million (about $2.3 million) over three years gambling on the illegal online platform Fun88, at times placing bets of as much as THB 10 million (around $290,000) in a single day. The newest ruling marked the seventh judgment in the 15 cases brought against Sararat. Aside from her two death sentences, the court also gave Sararat two life sentences and acquitted her in three cases. In other news from Thailand, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society had blocked almost 14,000 illegal betting websites during the FIFA World Cup as part of the country’s stricter stance on gambling.