Brave Kids Crossed The Sea To Find Mom

November 16, 2012

A 10-year-old girl held her little brother’s hand, and carrying only 100 baht cash, they left their home on Koh Larn island to find their mom, who had gone away to find work. They rode the ferry to land, but soon ran out of money. So they rested at a wayside shelter until a kind lady called the police.

PATTAYA – November 15, 2012 [PDN]; a report of two lost siblings found at a roadside shelter looking for their mother was received by Pol. Chanapat Nawalak, director of Sattahip police station. So he commanded the patrolling police to find them by broadcasting through the police radio.

The siblings were found at a roadside shelter on Sukhumwit Rd., at the top of soi Sattahipsukhumwit, 41, (Khaopet) Sattahip, Sattahip, Chonburi. At the scene, police found Mrs. Buakhian Sowanna, age 66 years old, a resident of Sattahip who found the children.

She was soothing the boy, who was weeping for his mother. The children said they got lost trying to find their mom. Their mother, later identified as Mrs. Boonyarat Tongsri, had left home and went to Sattahip to look for work.

The police brought the children and Mrs. Buakhian to testify at the Sattahip police station. The children told the police that they lived with their grandparents and mother at Koh Larn island.

Then one morning, their mom had gone to find a job in Sattahip and left them with their grandparents. But the children had never been away from their mother before. So the siblings took all the money in their piggy bank that contained 100 baht.

They took all the coins, to use for their boat fare, and when they reached the land, they used the rest of their money to get on a minibus from Nakluea going to Sattahip. But they ran out of money, so they rested at a roadside shelter. And then the kind lady and police officers came to help them find their mom.

Mrs. Buakhian told police that she had been on the same minibus as the two children, and while she was sitting in the vehicle, the children were hanging dangerously near the back edge, so she told them to sit inside. Then she asked where they were from, and they said they lived on Koh Larn island, but had left to find their mother.

When the minibus reached the roadside shelter, Mrs. Buakhian felt pity, and was afraid the children might get abducted, so she sat with them and called the police. At first, the police took the children to find their mom. Then the police contacted their grandmother in Koh Larn island to inform her that the grandkids were now safe.