Thai teacher accused of ignoring sick student, leading to his death

A Thai mother accused a teacher at a school in the central province of Pathum Thani of ignoring her six year old son who was having a seizure, leading to the boy’s death.

The mother shared a video of her son shaking uncontrollably on Facebook with a caption complaining about the teacher who took a video of the sick boy. The caption read…

“My son was shaking and struggling. His mouth turned darker but the teacher said he was fine and asked him to lie still instead of sending him to the hospital or providing first aid. The teacher chose to record this video and waited for me.

“My son had already died. He must have suffered before he died. He had a heart attack and died at school. He could be alive now if the teacher sent him to the hospital.”

The mother told Channel 7 that her son went to school without any symptoms that morning. The teacher called her in the afternoon and said her son was foaming at the mouth and his hands and feet were darkening.

The mother said she rushed to the school and found her son unconscious. She immediately took him to the hospital but he died on the way. The doctor gave him CPR and tried to bring him back to life but it failed.

5,000 baht compensation

According to the mother, her son had a headache and the teacher gave him a paracetamol tablet. The boy then had a seizure, as seen in the video but the teacher did not take him to the hospital. It took her about 30 minutes to get to the school but she was unable to help her son in time.

The mother said the teachers and the school expressed their condolences for the loss and gave her 5,000 baht as compensation. She felt that her son’s life was more valuable than that amount and wanted the school to take responsibility.

The Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) investigated the allegation. During the questioning, the accused teacher, whose identity was not reported, contradicted the mother’s statement, insisting that he sent the boy to the hospital as soon as possible.

The teacher said that the student had a headache, so he gave him a paracetamol tablet. The condition did not improve and got worse. The pupil vomited, lay on the bench and had a seizure.

The teacher called his mother because she could not go to the school. She asked the teacher to take photos or videos of the boy and send them to her. That is why he took the video.

The boy’s grandfather came to check on his grandson. The boy’s condition did not improve, so the school sent him to the hospital. The teacher insisted that the boy was still alive on the way to the hospital.

The OBEC had not yet closed the case but urged the school to discuss prevention measures for a similar incident.