Distraught mother seeks justice after 12 year old son sustains serious burns allegedly caused by friend

A distraught mother is seeking justice for her 12 year old son who sustained serious burns after being doused in alcohol by a friend in the Chacherngsao province near Bangkok. The attacker’s mother, who happens to be a teacher, compensated the victim only 2,000 baht and defended her child’s innocence.

Kittiya Kaenchan visited the Plaeng Yao Police Station to follow up on a complaint against the boy responsible for burning her 12 year old son, Garfield.

After a discussion with the police, the 37 year old Thai mother told Channel 3 that the incident took place on June 26 at about 4.30pm. Garfield called her on his mobile and let her know that he would visit his friend’s house after school and would return home at about 9pm.

Garfield did not come back home at the time he promised. His worried mother could not reach him via his phone until 11.48pm when a female teacher answered the call and relayed the distressing news that Garfield had been rushed to the hospital due to burns sustained while playing with alcohol and fire with his friends.

Garfield was unconscious in the hospital when his mother arrived. He reportedly said “Fire, fire, fire,” in a reverie. Kittiya said she kept repeating his name for over 30 minutes until he came around again.

Kittiya learned that Garfield and two of his friends were playing together. Two of his friends burned a pile of trash while Garfield was peeing nearby the blaze.

The two friends continued to pour alcohol onto the fire with one of them directing it towards Garfield, resulting in burns to his shirt and body.

Kittiya claimed that the friend who caused the incident is the son of a teacher at the school where her son studied.

Despite having arranged a meeting at the police station, the teacher failed to show up. Consequently, Kittiya was left waiting at the station for three hours, all the while attending to Garfield’s needs at the hospital.

Kittiya further stated that the teacher also threatened to file a complaint against her saying that she lodged a fake complaint that wrongly accused her son.

The superintendent of the Plaeng Yao Police Station, Preecha Nisaison, emphasised that the police officers would question both parties in detail.