“Saijai Aid’ launched to aid burn victim

PHUKET: People wanting to make direct donations to aid the recovery of burn victim Saijai Phromdaen, who was set on fire by an itinerant glue addict at Patong Beach on February 13, can now do so via the Internet or by visiting Vachira Phuket Hospital.

Dr Jerry Hoss, who is organizing the aid drive, told the Gazette that K. Saijai is just beginning to be able to speak again and that all the bandages have been removed from her face, which her two-year-old daughter Sairung remains too afraid to look at.

K. Saijai is beginning skin graft surgery at the hospital, expenses for which will be covered by her state medical insurance, he said.

“K. Saijai will be in the hospital for a whole month and the family has no income right now, as mother and daughter cannot work. Only her father is now working the beach as a vendor.

“K. Saijai had recently bought a new moped and needs to make payments of 3,000 baht every month to keep it. Her family owns a small house in Chalong which is all paid for, but utilities, food and water need to be paid for,” said Dr Hoss.

“I offered 4,000 baht to cover their immediate needs. K. Saijai’s mother K. Pennee hesitantly accepted it, [but she would only accept it] not as a gift but [instead as] an advance on future massage services,” he said.

Dr Hoss, a German who holds a PhD in linguistics and grew up as an orphan in post-WWII Germany, said told the Gazette he became interested in K. Saijai’s plight because he is interested in Thai traditional massage and also because “I know how it feels when nobody gives a damn, and I take an interest in the working poor.”

People wanting to make a donation can do so by visiting the information window near Room 3 on the ground floor of Vachira Phuket Hospital, where K. Saijai is staying while she undergoes her skin graft surgery.

People overseas or out of town can send any amount of money securely and discreetly to:

SaijaiAid@yahoo.com via https://www.moneybookers.com/app/?rid=2206130

Donations can be by credit/debit card, bank transfer, cash deposit and even mobile phone.

Moneybookers, similar to PayPal, operates worldwide, though with minimal fees. As Saijai’s family have no bank account, Dr Hoss will withdraw the money through his own ATM account, paying the associated fees.

“I know ‘do-gooders’ are suspicious, especially with all the tsunami donations disappearing into black holes, but trust me: this is not another “sick buffalo” story… If I abscond even with one baht of the donation money, you’re welcome to send a goon squad to smash my knees,” he said.

Every person who sends 400 baht (about US$12) is eligible for a four-handed, one-hour Thai massage on Patong Beach as soon as K. Saijai has recovered, he added.

“My plan is to move K. Saijai into an air-conditioned, serviced apartment with maid when she’s released from the hospital. This will cost 15,000 baht a month until the high season ends on April 1, and 10, 000 baht a month thereafter. Hopefully we’ll get the funds together,” he said.