Bangkok: Police have confirmed the identity of the eighth victim in the train-bus collision. Investigators traced the victim's social media posts, finding a missing person announcement from a friend, which led to the identification of relatives and successful DNA testing. Pol. Lt. Jarupat Buakaew, deputy investigating officer at Makkasan Police Station, confirmed the identity of the eighth victim, stating that police had been working diligently for over a week. The investigating officer indicated that they investigated information from social media after colleagues of Mr. Sermlap Pinthong, the eighth victim, contacted them with information and asked for help in locating him after he went missing since May 16th. Information revealed that on that day, he was traveling on the same bus route where the incident occurred, around the same time.
According to Thai News Agency, police later compared images of the passenger from CCTV footage provided by a colleague with images on Ms. Wiparak's social media. The images showed a man wearing the same clothing, shoes, bag, and pants as those in the CCTV footage from the colleague, while on the bus at the time of the incident. Therefore, they believed it was the same person. They then searched for the names of the missing person's parents and siblings to contact for DNA testing, but found that Mr. Sermlap's family members had already passed away.
While the social security system did not keep DNA samples, police went to Mr. Sermlap's room to collect samples for DNA comparison. They also searched for his paternal relatives and male relatives in the civil registration system, eventually locating a cousin of Mr. Sermlap. However, contacting Mr. Sermlap's cousin presented obstacles as they did not believe the person contacting them was a police officer and claimed to be busy with work. Despite these difficulties, the police persevered and eventually managed to invite Mr. Pairach to undergo a DNA test at the Forensic Medicine Department of the Police Hospital. The results confirmed that the deceased was indeed Mr. Sermlap.
It was reported that on May 20, 1969, a colleague of Mr. Sermlap informed Makkasan Police Station that Mr. Sermlap had gone missing. That evening, police inspected Mr. Sermlap's house and compared the photos to a story posted by one of his passengers on the day of the incident, and they matched.
On May 21, 2026, police contacted Mr. Sermlap's family before locating a relative on his father's side in Chonburi Province, Mr. Pairat. They then invited him to provide a DNA sample for comparison with Mr. Sermlap's and evidence found at the crime scene.
While eight injured individuals from the incident remain hospitalized at six different hospitals, Mr. Kittikan Chomduang Charuwarapolkul, Director of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), along with representatives from the State Railway of Thailand and other executives, visited them and presented gift baskets as a gesture of support to the eight injured individuals and staff members still receiving treatment at various hospitals.
Camillian Hospital: 3 cases
Viphaparam Hospital: 1 case
Phramongkutklao Hospital: 1 case
Ramathibodi Hospital: 1 case
Chulalongkorn Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society: 1 case
Phetchawet Hospital: 1 case