The tragic discovery of Kaikan Kaennakam’s body, a 31-year-old model from Thailand who had been missing for over a year, has shaken her family and raised questions about the circumstances surrounding her death. Kaikan, who sought opportunities abroad due to dwindling job opportunities in her home country, had been working at a restaurant in Bahrain for the past three years to support her family back in northern Thailand.
Despite her regular social media presence, Kaikan abruptly ceased posting in April 2023, causing distress among her loved ones who were unable to reach her by phone. Concerned for her well-being, her family sought assistance from the Thai embassy in January of this year but were unable to locate her.
After months of uncertainty, on April 18, the Thai embassy informed Kaikan’s family that the body of an unidentified Southeast Asian woman had been discovered in the morgue of the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Bahrain. Identification was made possible through a tattoo on her leg, confirming her as Kaikan Kaennakam.
The cause of Kaikan’s untimely passing was determined to be acute cardiopulmonary failure resulting from alcohol poisoning, a revelation that has left her family distraught and seeking answers. Expressing suspicion over the circumstances leading to her death, Kaikan’s family is now endeavoring to deport her remains while questioning the handling of the case by Bahraini authorities.
Kaikan’s sister, Suthida Ngernthaworn, expressed the family’s anguish in an online post on April 19, revealing their fruitless attempts to contact her and the heartbreaking confirmation of her demise. Allegations of a potential cover-up by Bahraini authorities have cast a shadow over the tragedy, further compounding the grief and frustration experienced by Kaikan’s grieving family.
