The founder of the Bangkok Folk Museum died on Wednesday from severe head injuries incurred when she fell from the second floor of her residence on the museum premises in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district on Jan 15.
Assoc Prof Waraporn Suravadi, an 82-year-old biologist, was pronounced dead at about 1pm at Prasat Neurological Institute where she had been treated in an intensive care unit, according to the Thai Tourism Society, of which she was president.
Waraporn lived alone in one of the buildings at the museum. She was reportedly trying to retrieve one of her pet cats from the roof when she fell about two metres and sustained a fractured skull. She was first taken to Bangkok Christian Hospital and then referred to Prasat Neurological Institute, where she was kept on a respirator.
The professor received wide public and media attention last year when she raised 10 million baht in public donations, adding to her personal savings of 30 million baht, to buy the land next to the Bangkok Folk Museum where a tall building was planned for construction.
Built in 1937, the museum is the former residence of the Suravadi family. Waraporn turned her property, inherited from her mother, into a museum because of her passion for arts and culture.
The museum was transferred to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in 2004 as part of a pilot project to set up local museums in all districts of the capital.
Architect Pachara Praetuan, of Global Asset Design and Develop Co, said he finished the floor plans late laste year for a new two-storey building for the museum grounds.
It was to be built on the land Waraporn had bought with her own money and the 10 million baht donated by the public. Before she died, Waraporn had been intending to turn the second floor of the building into a small cafe, to earn some money which would be used for the museum's management.
Mr Pachara volunteered to design the building at no charge. He praised Waraporn for her idea to make the museum financially independent.
The late Assoc Prof Waraporn in front of the two-storey teak wood house, which is the main house of the Bangkok Folk Museum. (Bangkok Post file photo)
