Young and beautiful, Tangmo Nida had a career and a promising future ahead of her. But things fell short because she died when she was 37 years old.

Nida Patcharaveerapong, born on September 13, 1984, was a famous model and actress from Thailand. She was also a singer, a racing driver, a TV personality, a social media influencer, and an entrepreneur from Bangkok.

In short, she was a well-known figure in Thailand.

When she died from alleged drowning at the Chao Phraya River, disturbing pictures and videos of the incident and her deceased body were uploaded.

Certainly, others quickly responded and spread the word, making the case viral.

What makes it catch even more headlines is that, while her family, fans and others in the industry mourned, the incident attracted suspicion due to evidence and inconsistent statements by those who were with her when she died.

From her friends who didn't seem to show empathy, for example, to Nida's mother, Panida Siriyuthayothin, who pointed out that mysterious CDs and notes were stuffed in front of her house. Among them, there was a song music video on the CD about a violent drowning scene.

In other words, many speculated that Nida's death is actually a homicide.

It all began on February 24, 2022.

In the evening, Tangmo Nida was with five others on a Speedboat at the Chao Phraya River.

The five people with her included her manager, Idsarin “Gatick” Juthasuksawat; a woman named Wisapat “Sand” Manomairat; a man named Nitas “Job” Kiratisoothisathorn; the boat owner, Tanupat “Por” Lerttaweewit; and skipper, Phaiboon “Robert” Trikanjananun.

At one moment during the ride, it is said that Nida had to urinate.

But since the toilet on the speedboat couldn't be used at the time, Nida had to go to the back of the speedboat.

To balance herself while urinating, Gatick said that Nida was holding her feet while she squatted at the speedboat's stern.

Unfortunately, it is said that Nida slipped and fell.

Gatick who realized this, quickly shouted to others. But nobody heard her scream. Nida was left behind in the dark night, alone in the cold water struggling with her life.

Nida and the others didn't wear life jackets.

While life jackets were provided on the speedboat, none of the people onboard wore them because the speed of the speedboat wasn't fast, and Nida didn't want a life jacket to ruin her photoshoots.

When the speedboat returned, the five people contacted the police.

This also immediately alerted the Thai media.

Soon, the Thai police and the Siam Nonthaburi rescue team arrived to the scene with a team of divers that quickly launched a search and rescue operation. They worked overnight, and continue the operation until the next day until the shipping traffic on the river was opened at 7AM. The operation was temporarily halted until it resumed at 10AM that day.

On February 26, Nida's body was found floating in the middle of the river, around 1 kilometer from the location she allegedly fell.

The team lifted her body onto a boat, and covered her with a white tarp.

The whole scene was was recorded, and was published on the internet.

It was shown how Nida's body had started bloating, with some of her body parts have darkened in color, especially her face.

The most shocking was the footage and the picture of a deep laceration on her inner right thigh that is about 30 centimeters long.

Later, an autopsy report showed Nida's wound is bone-deep, suspected to have been hit by a blade or the speedboat's rotor blade. According to the preliminary conclusion, officials at the Police Hospital Forensic Medicine Institute said that Nida suffocated because of drowning.

Evidence showed that sand particles were found inside her lungs, suggesting that Nida was still alive when she hit the water.

At the time, it was realized that Nida was wearing a bodysuit-style skirt, and she was wearing high heels.

However, the police couldn't be a 100% sure that Nida's death was an accident.

According to witnesses, Nida was seen struggling to swim and crying after falling. She was also heard calling for help.

However, due to the sound of the speedboat's engine, the waves, and the sound of loud music, Nida's voice couldn't be heard by anyone on the boat.

Another witness who claimed to have seen Nida drowning said that at around 5PM, a boat was seen near her. The boat was seen circling the area for about three times. It is said that the boatman also saw Nida drowning, but didn't do anything because he was drunk at the time.

Nida's mother also expressed doubt. Besides knowing that her daughter had received some death threats, her mother knows that Nida was a good swimmer.

She said that if Nida fell, she should not drown.

Later, it was reported that the Technology Crime Suppression Division has traced the boat owner Por’s phone, and found that he made a series of phone calls to "powerful people" shortly after the incident that night.

Then during one of the interrogations, Por admitted that Robert was driving the speedboat when Nida fell overboard. But because Robert lacked the experience in driving a speedboat, he briefly lost control of the vessel, lurching it forward when it shouldn't. This caused a reflex reaction from Nida to firmly hold Gatick to not fall.

This in turn triggered a reflex reaction from Gatick who shook her legs, causing Nida to topple over, where her thigh may have been sliced by the propeller blades.

After continuous investigations, including more and more rounds of interrogations and a five-night reenactment act on the boat, the Nonthaburi court has issued an order granting arrest warrants for the five suspected persons involved, which include the driver of the speedboat who was not able to show a a qualified boat driver's license.

Two of the five people on board were charged with violation of the use of an unauthorized boat, deviation from the waterway, and a reckless act that causes the death of another.

"The cause of death is found at this point to be drowning. To determine what actually caused her to fall into the river, whether it was herself or someone else, will take time.” said the police's spokesperson.

“As for the statements given by the five people in the boat, police aren’t totally convinced.”

Things get even more blurry when Nida's lawyer posted on Facebook, saying that in the case of speedboats, how many people would lose their celebrity image for urinating in public directly to a river? Even in a more urgency situation, like if Nida really had to defecate, as a high-profile celebrity, she would certainly tell the others to bring the speedboat to shore and deal with it then.

In addition, Nida was wearing a jumpsuit with an open-back style.

If she really had such emergencies, she had to take it off from the top to the bottom, which would mean that Nida's had to be completely naked by exposing her breasts and her private regions.

For a celebrity to do such thing in public, is impossible, the lawyer suggested.

The lawyer further denied allegations that said Nida's jumpsuit could be unbuttoned from the crotch. The lawyer said that if she could really remove the bottom part of the jumpsuit, there shouldn't be a need for her to relieve herself in the stern.

In later footage obtained, it was shown that Nida was sipping a glass of wine and playing with her hair on the night of her drowning. In the background, an unidentified male voice can be heard asking Nida to approach him at the rear end of the speedboat.

Speculations after speculations that all went viral, Thailand’s Department of Mental Health advises the public to objectively read the news and beware of misinformation.

Officials are worried about the psychological impact excessive exposure to the flood of media reports might have on the society.

It was later reported that Nida's mother has forgiven who were with her daughter, in exchange for at least 30 million Thai baht ($920,000).

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"Por is a very polite man," she said.

"He was always calling me, crying every day, and I will be receiving compensation for her passing. He told me to calculate Tangmo’s income, that if she were to star in lakorn (Genre in Thai drama) for 800,000 to 1 million baht each series, and were she alive for 30 more years, she would probably earn more than this amount."

Nida's lawyer said that he felt sad about this situation.

"Has anyone ever sincerely loved her without any benefit? Even after she died, there are still people looking to gain something," her lawyer said.

"Disappointed," Nida's brother said in a post, after her mother's appearance.

Not only that, as the public was also widely displeased by her decision.

Panida denied any suggestion that her forgiveness was based on the promise of compensation.

This was seen when Gatick attended a public apology to Panida, at Mueng Nonthaburi Provincial Polce Station. Panida didn't accept Gatick when she apologized. The reason is because when Panida asked Gatick why didn't she jump into the water to save her drowning daughter, Gatick replied that she "can’t swim.”

This is said to be a lie, because on Instagram, Gatick was shown swimming in a pool with her daughter.