Synopsis (headphones recommended): A special edition 6-part series by The Straits Times in Singapore, exploring recent real crimes that gripped, horrified and laid bare the issues that afflicted societies in Asia. Episodes drop every fourth Tuesday of the month from April 25, 2023.
Warning: This podcast is an audio documentary of a real crime case which may be troubling and upsetting to certain listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
Be transported back to the events of 2010, when the discovery of thousands of rotting foetuses, hidden in a Bangkok temple - led to more awareness and debate over illegal abortions in Buddhist-majority Thailand.
The grisly remains at Wat Phai Ngern were traced to a network of clinics. The case uncovered the scale of the illegal abortion industry at a time when the procedure was still largely illegal and heavily stigmatised.
ST’s Thailand correspondent Tan Tam Mei interviews and narrates this podcast.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:03 A dog chews on something in the middle of a Bangkok temple; long-time temple worker Supote Leangbamrong recalls the stench and discovery by authorities in 2010
5:52 Shockwaves throughout Thailand; abortion hardly discussed and was largely illegal and taboo back then
08:57 Nursing assistant Lanchakorn Janthamanas’s underground operation; roping in two temple undertakers to dispose of the bodies
11:40 Abortion activist Supeecha Baotip on how voices of women were missing in the discussion on abortion, her own story and how much has changed since the crime case
17:44 Restrictions against abortion relaxed in 2021, sweeping legal changes in Thailand
20:00 Cultural beliefs: Why some doctors don’t perform abortions because they are afraid of karma
23:09 Expanding availability of legal abortions and to change mindsets; abortion offered as a tele-health service in Thailand
25:05 Rumours about the souls of the aborted foetuses haunting the temple still linger, even more than a decade later
Interviews & narration by: Tan Tam Mei (tammei@sph.com.sg)
Executive Producers: Ernest Luis (ernest@sph.com.sg) and Tan Tam Mei
Podcast Producers: Teo Tong Kai and Fa’izah Sani
Voiceovers: Raul Dancel, Shahrena Hassan, Lee Nian Tjoe, Joel Chng
Follow ST’s True Crimes Of Asia every 4th Tuesday of the month here:
Channel: https://str.sg/i44T
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/i44q
Spotify: https://str.sg/i44c
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/
Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg
Read Tan Tam Mei’s articles: https://str.sg/iJxJ
---
Discover more ST podcast channels:
In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt
Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7
Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN
Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf
Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m
ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE
#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad
Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX
Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL
---
Special edition series:
True Crimes Of Asia (new): https://str.sg/i44T
The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2
Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn
Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB
Singapore’s War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa
---
Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!
