PHITSANULOK – Authorities are investigating after the body of a newborn baby boy was found at the bottom of a trash bin inside the bathroom of a long-distance bus running the Udon Thani to Phitsanulok line.
Officials believe the baby was around 7 to 8 months of gestational age, with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached. They suspect the mother may have suffered heavy bleeding and miscarried, then panicked and fled.
Police at Wang Thong Station received the report on the morning of Feb. 25, 2026. Investigators, rescue workers, and an on-call doctor from Wang Thong Hospital went to a bus depot in Moo 3, Ban Dong Khoi, Wang Phikun Subdistrict, Wang Thong District, Phitsanulok, to examine the scene.
Inside the bathroom trash bin on the bus, officers found the body of a newborn boy. The cord and placenta were present, and officials believed the death had occurred not long before the discovery.
The driver, 53-year-old Santi Lertwongsakulchai, said the bus had traveled from Udon Thani through several scheduled stops, including Nong Bua Lam Phu and Loei, before reaching Phitsanulok. After dropping off passengers, the bus arrived at the depot around 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2026.
A bus attendant, 52-year-old Dokliw Samathi, said she boarded the bus the next morning to clean it ahead of an 11:00 a.m. departure back to Udon Thani. While removing the bathroom trash bin, she noticed it felt unusually heavy.
When she opened the lid, she saw the infant inside and immediately alerted authorities.
She also told police that a woman had appeared suspicious during the trip. The woman was described as thin and tall, wearing jeans, and looking unwell. According to the attendant, the woman boarded in Loei, lay down on a seat near the rear by the bathroom, and later got off at Phitsanulok Bus Terminal 1 in the city.
Police and medical staff said the infant appeared to be about 7 to 8 months’ gestational age because the body was fully formed.
Investigators are considering multiple possibilities, including a premature delivery followed by death, or a miscarriage that led to panic and an attempt to hide the body. They have not ruled out the possibility that the baby may have died after being delivered.
Officials sent the body for an autopsy at Wang Thong Hospital to determine the exact cause of death. Police are also working to identify and locate the mother for questioning and legal action as the investigation continues.
