Kind-hearted Thais donate over 1 million baht to help 4 year old girl and her blind grandmother (video)
The gut-wrenching struggle of a four year old girl and her 68 year old blind grandmother in the Isaan province of Buriram tugged on the nation’s heartstrings leading the good people of Thailand to dig deep into their pockets and donate 1 million baht to help the family.
A Thai teacher, Phatcharin “Aoom” Esatee, took to social media to seek aid for her four year old student, Toey. Aoom shared videos on TikTok featuring Toey with her blind grandmother, Sao Jindasi. Despite her young age, Toey managed all the household chores, including washing clothes, doing dishes, and even assisting her grandmother with the cooking.
Aoom spoke to KhaoSod after the videos went viral revealing that Toey attends Baan Makham Thantawan Kindergarten, where Aoom serves as her class teacher. Each day, Toey’s grandmother, Sao, accompanies her to school and makes her way back home, despite her blindness.
The school’s policy encourages teachers to visit students’ homes, providing Aoom with an opportunity to meet Toey at her residence. Aoom said that she was speechless when she saw the conditions of Toey’s house. There were holes in the roof. The house has a floor of dirt and a wooden bench that the two used as a bed. Aoom said…
“Toey’s grandmother told me that she uses a mat to cover Toey when it is raining. I could not ignore them. Toey is very lovely at school. She cannot afford food and snacks like her other friends, but she never cried for them. She sometimes asked for snacks from me and I shared them with her. She never plays with her school friends during lunch breaks. Instead, she would come to me and help me clean the classrooms.”
According to Aoom, Toey’s parents are working in the eastern province of Rayong, but they have never made contact with or provided financial support for Toey and her grandmother. Sao earns 1,400 baht per month from the government’s disabled and elderly allowances.
Sao explained that they mostly ate omelettes with rice. Toey used to tell her that she could eat rice with salt if they could not afford anything else.
Aoom disclosed that her friends and followers on Facebook donated money of 20,000 baht to Toey after watching the videos, so she handed the money over to them. Sao was crying hard when she received the money.
The latest update on KhaoSod revealed that the total donation has now exceeded 1 million baht. After Sao learned about the money, she urged the relevant government department to announce that the money was more than enough and to close the donation.
Aoom also mentioned that someone had contacted her via Facebook, expressing a willingness to care for Toey until she completed her bachelor’s degree. However, Aoom has yet to engage in detailed discussions with this individual. The provincial administrative department would also renovate their house with a supporting budget of 180,000 baht.
A famous Thai news reporter from Channel 3, Sorayuth Suthassanachinda, revealed during his morning news show today that he would cover Toey’s educational expenses. He was happy to support Toey until she finishes her doctor’s degree if she so wished.
@askrooaoomaimpatc เชื่อว่าน้ำใจคนไทยคือที่สุด….ช่วยน้องด้วยนะคะ #ฝนตกน้องไม่มีที่อยู่เลย ฝนสาดเปียกหมด🥹🥹 #ทําบุญร่วมกัน
@askrooaoomaimpatc เก่งมากลูก #เยี่ยมบ้านนักเรียน ช่วยกันทำบุญให้น้องมีที่หลบฝนนะคะ #เด็กอนุบาล
