Dr. Suwat Suwanich

He entered the prestigious medical school at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, Class 15. In 1965 he received his Medical Degree from King Rama IX and then served as a doctor working for a rural government hospital located in Pisanuloke Province in Thailand for 2 years.

Dr. Suwat went to America with a classmate in 1967 to further their medical studies, and did their internship at a 300 bed-sized hospital located in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

He later married Pranee Panichpakdee in 1968 and the reception was held at Uniontown Washington DC in a simple ceremony. Dr. Suwat wanted to pursue a residency program in America and so both decided to stay in America.

They had a son and a daughter, Charles and Ratana. Later in life, Charles married Valailuck Bowornsupkijkul and had 2 children, Jade and Ramanya. Ratana married Duke Lim and they had twins, Stella and Lucy.

Dr. Suwat and his family were living in Maryland for a while but finally settled down in Westminster, California in 1980 to this day.

In 3 years, Dr. Suwat finished his training and earned his Medical Board for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from the VA Hospital, Long Beach. Dr. Suwat established his private practice as a family doctor in Long Beach from 1979-2015 (36 yrs) and dedicated the last part of his career helping underprivileged patients with affordable fees.

Most of his patients immigrated from Thailand and the neighboring countries, and couldn’t access the US healthcare system. They also couldn't speak English but Dr. Suwat was able to speak with his patients in Chinese, Khmer, Mong, and Laotian. He would treat the patient’s parents and children as well as their grandparents. Dr. Suwat also treated over 500 monks who would come from far (Sacramento) and countless patients free of charge.

Dr. Suwat was kind-hearted, friendly, cheerful. He loved playing sports, singing, dancing, socializing. He best enjoyed telling funny stories and jokes, and had people laughing.

Dr. Suwat joined various local social activities helping advance Thai social causes and Buddhism.

Dr. Suwat donated much of his own time and money to help Thai communities here in America and in Thailand.

His outstanding achievements were:

- being a newspaper column writer for Sereechai and wrote weekly articles under "Old Sick Die" for 17 years. He wanted to educate the local Thai community of common illnesses and simple ways to take care of one-self.

- served as a President of Chulalongkorn Alumni Association in CA from 2000-2001, and then on the Board Committee from 2005-2011.

Example of his achievements while working with CU Alumni Association.

: published the book “Old Sick Die” which was a compilation of the newspaper articles and focused on the latter part of a person’s life. He used his own funds to publish the books and donated the sales to various organizations such as Thai orphanages, remote learning in rural Thai schools (by satellite), Christian Handicapped Children, etc.

: supported Buddhist temples in California. He helped raise funds for various Thai temples and was involved in funding the ornament roof point (Gabel apex) for a Hall of temple at Wat Pathamachard in 2008.

: raised funds to build a memorial for King Rama 5th at Wat Rattanapanya in 2013 so people could pay respect and tributes to the late Thai King.

For his generous contributions to Thai society and religion, Chulalongkorn Alumni nominated him for a honoree medal and was given the Gold Medal of the Most Admirable Order Direkgunabhorn (G.M.T.) from King Rama 9th in 2012.

Receiving this distinguished award from the King is the highest honor of achievement for him and his family.

Dr. Suwat suffered a major stroke in 2017 and consequently became less active. At the age of 83, he peacefully passed away at home on June 20, 2022.

He was most deeply loved and respected by all,

Produced by

Ple Anamarn and Poh Puwaseth

Written by

Nok Suwanwanitch

Subtitled by

Charles Suwanwanitch