Grisly find at temple leads to overhaul of Thai abortion laws

Foetus mortuary' exposes risks women take because of strict laws against abortion

- Tan Tam Mei

BANGKOK - For a long time in 2010, Mr Supote Leangbamrong had to endure a stench at Wat Phai Ngern temple in Bangkok where he built pagodas.

The smell wafted from the temple's mortuary, just metres away from his rest area, whenever the door was open.

One day, he decided to take a closer look.

"I saw something spill out (in the mortuary). I went over to check, and that's when I saw many plastic bags full of swollen and rotten remains. Some bags had burst, resulting in the foul smell," said the 68-year-old.

He knew instantly that the plastic bags contained dead foetuses.

He later saw one of the workers putting more of such bags into the containers used to store bodies before cremation.

"I didn't say anything because I was afraid that the temple worker would lose his job, and it would become a criminal case," he told The Straits Times in the second episode of the True Crimes of Asia podcast series.

Mr Supote, who has worked at the temple for over three decades, also did not want to tarnish its name.

But the gruesome secret could not be contained.

One day in November 2010, a stray dog wandered into the temple's marketplace with a plastic bag in its mouth. The foul smell caught the attention of some devotees who discovered the bag's gruesome contents and called the police.

Investigations exposed shocking details of the "foetus mortuary" and the underground industry for abortions in Thailand, where the procedure was illegal, with few exceptions such as in the case of rape.

The discovery marked a turning point for Thai society, where the authorities could no longer ignore the fact that women were turning to illegal and unsafe abortions as a result of the strict laws.