Brown's analysis of ceramics recovered from shipwrecks of the period "revolutionized the understanding of trade patterns in the region," according to colleagues cited in the Los Angeles Times.
[3][4] While employed as a curator by Bangkok University, she became involved in the investigation of the smuggling of art objects from Thailand to the United States, particularly from the Ban Chiang cultural tradition, assisting U.S. Government agents.
Brown was arrested on May 9, 2008, for alleged wire fraud when she arrived in the United States to deliver a lecture at an Asian art symposium at the University of Washington.
The question of her actual involvement in the smuggling ring, the justification for her arrest, and her lack of medical attention after it, was the subject of a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times.
[3][6][8] A medical malpractice lawsuit was filed by her son, Taweesin (Jaime) Ngerntongdee, after it was determined that Brown had died of peritonitis caused by a perforated ulcer.
[5] The suit claimed she had suffered stomach problems in the detention center and that other inmates took her to a shower after a guard would not respond when she vomited something that "smelled like excrement."