5 year old autistic boy drowns at school in Isaan province

The Deputy Provincial Governor stated that a school in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen must take responsibility after a five year old autistic boy drowned at a swimming pool inside the school. The name of the school has not yet been disclosed.

Baan Phai Hospital reported the death of a five year old boy named Peach to Baan Phai Police Station yesterday morning. The hospital reported that the body was still in a school uniform and had no visible wounds or signs of physical harm on his body.

Baan Phai Police officers swiftly initiated an investigation at the school where Peach had been enrolled. The incident transpired at a swimming pool located behind a classroom building, boasting a depth of approximately 140 centimetres.

From security camera footage, Peach is seen descending into the swimming pool alone at about 8.41am while other students were gathering. A fence surrounds the pool but there is a small gap in one part of the fence where Peach entered the pool.

He attempted to swim for about 14 minutes before drowning. The school bus driver discovered Peach at the bottom of the pool and rushed him to the hospital but he died on the way.

The teacher, Juthamas, revealed to ThaiRath that Peach was an autistic student. On the incident day, she met Peach in the morning while he entered the school. However, she did not notice that Peach was not present during the morning activities.

The Deputy Provincial Governor, Charnchai Sornsiwichai, emphasised during the interview with the media that the school must take responsibility for what had happened. Charnchai added that the school must close in order for the relevant departments to conduct an investigation.

Peach’s grandmother, 70 year old Lamduan, informed ThaiRath that Peach lived with her because his parents relocated to Bangkok for work. She did not know how Peach got into the pool and drowned and has not yet had an opportunity to engage with the school on this matter. Peach’s parents are presently en route to Khon Kaen.

Regrettably, this tragic occurrence evokes memories of a similar incident involving a seven year old schoolgirl named Ji Hoon last year. Ji Hoon was left in a van at Ploenchit Wittaya School in Chon Buri all day and suffocated. The teacher on school bus duty together with the bus driver faced a charge of negligence causing the death of another person.

The police disclosed that 129 incidents occurred last year where children were left alone in school buses in Thailand between 2014 to 2020.

Despite this alarming statistic, drowning remains one of the most prominent causes of child mortality in the country. According to the Department of Disease Control‘s report from March, 953 children lost their lives to drowning between 2018 and 2022.