Fuel for thought: Bangkok-bound uncle abandons girl in Buriram

A young girl was abandoned at a petrol station in Buriram by her uncle who journeyed more than 400 kilometres to Bangkok. The six year old was found in a distressed state and was initially too scared to cooperate with rescuers. Her mother, working in Bangkok, has been contacted and is on her way to reunite with her.

At 2am today, August 8, Siam Ruam Jai Pu In Rescue Unit received a report of a lost child at a petrol station in Nang Rong district, Buriram province. Responding promptly, the rescue unit found two women comforting a young girl, approximately six years old, who had a backpack on. The women explained that they had seen the girl crying for a long time but no one came to claim her, prompting them to call the rescue team.

The rescue team attempted to take the girl to Nang Rong Police Station but she was too frightened to go with them. The two women who initially looked after her managed to calm her down enough to get her into the rescue vehicle. Despite this, she cried throughout the journey and refused to respond to any questions from the rescuers.

The police then directed the rescue unit to take the child to their office, which provided a more comfortable environment. Once there, the girl’s condition improved significantly as a female rescue worker engaged her in conversation. It was soon evident that the girl spoke in a dialect resembling that of people from Laos.

The Siam Ruam Jai Pu In Rescue Unit subsequently posted an announcement to locate the girl’s family, which was widely shared. A woman soon contacted them, claiming to be the girl’s mother, a worker in Bangkok. Kampon Wongsa-nguan, the head of Nang Rong Police Station, along with the rescue unit, confirmed the identity of the mother, who is from Laos and works in Bangkok.

The mother explained that her daughter had been travelling with her uncle from Laos to Bangkok on a bus from Pakse. The bus, carrying around 30 passengers, made a stop at the petrol station in Nang Rong at approximately 11.55pm for a routine break.

Lost girl

CCTV footage showed the girl and her uncle entering the restroom together. However, when the bus resumed its journey, the girl was not on board. The uncle, upon returning to the bus, asked the driver if he had seen the girl. The driver mistakenly informed him that she was sleeping at the back of the bus.

The confusion went unnoticed until the bus arrived at Mo Chit Station in Bangkok, where the girl’s mother and another uncle were waiting. Upon realising the girl was missing, they alerted the transport office, leading to the discovery that she was under the care of the Siam Ruam Jai Pu In Rescue Unit. The mother is now en route to Nang Rong to collect her daughter, reported KhaoSod.

Vorabodin Rungrojchaikul, the head of Siam Ruam Jai Pu In Rescue Unit, gave a statement on the incident.

“After receiving the report, we immediately went to check on the child. She was traumatised and did not speak to anyone. From our initial understanding, it was clear she was not Thai. We then posted her picture to find her guardians. Fortunately, the child was unharmed.”