Thai court sentences ‘Am Cyanide’ to death in seventh poisoning case

This is the seventh judgement among the 15 cases

BANGKOK: The Criminal Court on Tuesday (Aug 25, 2026) sentenced Sararat 'Am Cyanide' Rangsiwuthaporn to death for the murder of Darinee 'Fah' Thepwi, marking the seventh judgement among the 15 cases brought against her.

Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn is a Thai woman at the centre of a high-profile serial cyanide-poisoning case. She is accused of fatally poisoning multiple friends and acquaintances (mostly for financial motives linked to debts and fraud), with police linking her to about 15 poisonings (14 deaths and 1 survivor) across several provinces from around 2015 to 2023.

Police tied the pattern to heavy online gambling losses and large bank transactions. The cases all involve potassium cyanide allegedly mixed into food, drinks, or other consumables.

In November 2024, Bangkok’s Criminal Court found her guilty of the premeditated murder of her friend Siriporn Khanwong. The court ruled Sararat administered the poison, left her without helping, and took belongings worth a significant amount. She was sentenced to death. Her ex-husband (a former police officer) and a lawyer received shorter prison terms (around 16 months and 2 years) for helping conceal evidence. This case triggered the broader investigation into the other deaths.

In Black Case No. Aor 1802/2568, prosecutors alleged that Sararat mixed potassium cyanide into food, medicine, or another consumable product and caused Darinee to ingest it. They said the killing was intended to obtain or retain financial benefits arising from fraud. Sararat denied the charges.

Darinee died on Dec 13, 2020, in Rai Khing subdistrict, Sam Phran district, Nakhon Pathom. She was a member of the same rotating savings group as Sararat and was owed 60,000 baht by her.

The court found that a Siriraj Hospital specialist in forensic medicine and toxicology who conducted the post-mortem examination had established that Darinee’s heart, lungs, and liver failed after she was exposed to cyanide, causing her death.

Sararat had been with Darinee shortly before the poison would have taken effect. After leaving Sararat and returning home, Darinee suffered convulsions, muscle rigidity, foaming at the mouth, and lost consciousness—symptoms consistent with cyanide poisoning.

The court also found that Sararat owed Darinee money and had substantial other debts that left her unable to repay the victim. It concluded that Sararat had caused cyanide to enter Darinee’s body, whether by making her ingest it or by another method.

The prosecution’s evidence was sufficiently compelling to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt, while the defence evidence failed to rebut the prosecution’s case, the court ruled.

Sararat was found guilty under Sections 289(4) and 289(7) of the Criminal Code, as well as Section 238 in conjunction with Section 236.

As the offences arose from a single act violating several provisions, the court applied the offence carrying the most severe penalty under Section 90. It convicted Sararat of premeditated murder committed to obtain or retain benefits from another offence, conceal that offence or avoid punishment, and sentenced her to death.

Because the death penalty was imposed, no further consecutive sentence could be ordered. The court dismissed the remaining requests.

Source: thestar.com.my, Staff, August 25, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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