Parents left heartbroken after daughter, 7, found dead in van at private school - mother suspects foul play

[webfact]

Daily News Thai Caption: Parents heartbroken

 

A mother suspects foul play after her daughter was found dead at the end of a school day in a van that had been parked since morning. 

 

She has told police that she thinks her daughter may have been attacked and made to look as though she had spent all day in the van. 

 

Earlier Phan Thong, Chonburi, police major Prasert Kulabutradee had been alerted about the death of a child at a well known private school in the area.

 

Along with rescue services they found the dead body of "A" aged just 7 on the seat behind the driver.

She was face down, pale, with blood coming out of her mouth. 

 

Next to the child - in primary class 2/2 - was a school bag and a water cup, reported Daily News (the story was also widely reported across Thai television). 

 

Police interviewed teachers and the driver who gave evidence that the van had picked up children from home and it was believed they had all alighted on arrival at school. 

 

After that the driver went to park in another area ahead of the home run later in the day.

 

At 4 pm the driver went back to the vehicle, found the unresponsive and clearly dead child and alerted the head teacher and the authorities. 

 

Later the mother of the girl filed a report with the Phan Thong police against the school and those responsible.

 

She told investigators that following the incident three teachers had come to her house but would not reveal precisely what had happened. 

 

One asked callously: "Does she have an underlying medical condition?"

 

When pressed about what had happened it was admitted that "your child is not breathing now".

 

The mother said this sent her into shock but still the teachers would not give more details.

 

The mother said that this was far more than a child suffocating in a van after being forgotten, as bad as that is.

 

She said her child is quite large and would have been easily seen.

 

She wants to know if her child was attacked then put in the van to make it appear she had died there.

 

She said she had paid good money for a private education for her child and expected a far greater duty of care than this for her only daughter.

 

She said that she would take the case to the limit of the law. 

 

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[Joe Farang]

Whether malicious or a terrible accident, the schools care of a student and subsequent handling of the matter was appaling.

[SidJames]

RIP to the poor child but why is this in the Pattaya News section & not the national section?

[richard_smith237]

This has happened way too many times. 

 

Thailand has never dealt with this issue correctly or effectively - it happens numerous times every year.

 

IF a child is left in a van the driver deserves a fixed jail sentence - there is no if, but, what about.

The driver is wholly responsible for any passenger in their vehicle.

Once the children are dropped off - check the Van, it's really not hard at all. 

 

Adults in Thailand (and anywhere else) need to be ‘forced’ to take responsibility for their actions. 

This can only happen when there are definite and specific consequences.

 

Additionally - in this case there are numerous safety protocols which should be, but which are not followed - i.e. aren’t all vans with children supposed to have a ‘van monitor’ i.e. another adult to supervise young children ?

 

A student is missing in class - the parents should be contacted immediately ask asked where the child is. IF the child was sent to school but never arrived in class then search protocol commences immediately. 

 

Thailand is so very very far behind on its care of minors. 

 

This is why we do 15,000 KM per year and spend 25,000 baht every year on expressway fees for the school run alone....   We will not use a Van (even for a top tier int’l school).

 

[chickenslegs]

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

A student is missing in class - the parents should be contacted immediately ask asked where the child is. IF the child was sent to school but never arrived in class then search protocol commences immediately. 

^ This.

 

It's unbelievable that no effort is made to verify the wherebouts of a child missing from the classroom.  Yet it's a common factor in every one of these tragedies.

 

[Tarteso]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

a well known private school in the area.

Name of well known? ????

 

RIP poor child.

[RichardColeman]

Whatever happened to a school calling the parents when children don't turn up ? 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, SidJames said:

RIP to the poor child but why is this in the Pattaya News section & not the national section?

It happened at a School in Chonburi....  But I agree, this is National News... 

 

Are we about to see another ‘crack-down’ on school vans where ‘authority figures’ will posture, make announcements?.... then just like ‘crossing a road’... nothing will actually change at all. 

 

 

 

 

[AsianAtHeart]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

A student is missing in class - the parents should be contacted immediately ask asked where the child is. IF the child was sent to school but never arrived in class then search protocol commences immediately. 

This has been affected by the current era of covidnoia.  When a student is coughing, sneezing, has a sore throat, or a slight fever, the school personnel prefer if that student stays home.  To help pave the way for this to happen, no consequences for truancy are likely, and the rate of absenteeism has skyrocketed.  For the most part, this is a satisfactory arrangement on all sides--the parents are not pestered over the whys and wherefores that they have not elected to send their children on a particular day, and the school does not need to put up with the fears of other students or their parents should one student arrive with the sniffles.

 

Obviously, in this 7-year-old girl's case, the paranoid system has failed her.  It really is a tragedy--but the tragedy starts with the fear and medical/scientific ignorance that induces it.

[khunpa]

Amazing that the driver can miss noticing a kid left behind. Fully understand the mom is suspicious of foul play.

 

Glad my son goes to a school where I am contacted if he is late and I have not noticed them beforehand. 

 

Poor girl!

[ThaiFelix]

I cant say for others but I am a creature of habit.  If I was one of these van drivers, and particularly considering the number of deaths like this over the years, I would make it a simple routine to go through my van at the end of each run.  I really find it hard to believe that any adult would not do the same considering what you are carrying.

 

RIP poor child and condolences to the parents.

[ikke1959]

Don't understand how this can happen.. Why not checked if everybody left the van  and even check for things kids have forgotten.. Why not call the parents if the student is not in the class or school without notice.. RIP to kid..

[steven100]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

and it was believed they had all alighted on arrival at school. 

somethings not adding up here ....  the driver ' believed '   everyone got out of the van.

I believe in the tooth fairy as well ....  

 

whether he believed or not,  he obviously didn't check through the glass window or open the door to actually confirm everyone had left.

I absolutely cannot fault the mother for being suspicious ....  as she said,  did someone attack her and then put her in the van to make it look like she suffocated.  

[Iamfalang]

Thai schools take roll about 1000000 times an hour.   Everybody knew she wasn't at school.

 

Not one person in the van said anything?  Not one teacher asked the driver, or any kid in her classroom, or in the van if she was in the van?

 

This is pretty typical.   If it's not 100% your problem, it's 0% your problem.   Everyone probably thinking someone else will take care of it.

 

complete failure on every level, happens every day on a much smaller scale.  

[AsianAtHeart]

6 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

^ This.

 

It's unbelievable that no effort is made to verify the wherebouts of a child missing from the classroom.  Yet it's a common factor in every one of these tragedies.

 

While it perhaps should be as you suggest, the fact is that it is totally believable that no one would make an effort to locate a missing student.  Here are the reasons:

 

1) Many students stay home these days to avoid being stigmatized for having symptoms of illness.  People are deathly afraid of covid, and some students are even sent home if symptomatic.  Absenteeism, for this reason, has never been more commonplace.

 

2) Teachers are over-burdened and over-worked.  A local private school where I am has 56 students in one classroom, with one teacher, and the school has refused to split it into two classes (probably for economic reasons).  Any teacher taking the time to look up the parents' contact information and make phone calls would be, at the same time, sacrificing time and attention that needs to be devoted to those present.  And imagine the scenario with a dozen or more students absent from a class that size (sometimes nearly half the class can be absent on a given day).  The teacher simply cannot follow up on all of those who are absent--at least, not right then, during teaching hours.

 

This is Thailand.  But even in America, some teachers wear adult diapers because they don't have time enough to go to the restroom owing to the requirement to be present with the students full-time throughout the day.  Laws forbid leaving students unsupervised, even for a few minutes.

[Mac Mickmanus]

What did she die of ?

I don't think that sitting on a bus for eight hours would kill the girl

[JeffersLos]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

duty of care

Alai wa? 

[JeffersLos]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

three teachers had come to her house but would not reveal precisely what had happened. 

 

One asked callously: "Does she have an underlying medical condition?"

Where's that Koh Tao policeman with his 'You're young enough to make another one.' when you need him. 

[JeffersLos]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

found the clearly dead child

8 hours ago, webfact said:

expected a far greater duty of care than this

Understatement of the year award. 

[jak2002003]

Why couldn't the poor child get out of the van herself? 

 

Does it all lock from the inside.... including the driver's door????

 

 

[chickenslegs]

15 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

What did she die of ?

I don't think that sitting on a bus for eight hours would kill the girl

Heatstroke?

“In the confined space of a car, temperatures can climb so rapidly that they overwhelm a child’s ability to regulate his or her internal temperature. The body, especially a small body, can go into shock quickly, and circulation to vital organs can fail.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/2142475/heres-what-happens-to-your-body-when-youre-left-in-a-hot-car/

[chickenslegs]

4 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

This has been affected by the current era of covidnoia.  When a student is coughing, sneezing, has a sore throat, or a slight fever, the school personnel prefer if that student stays home.  To help pave the way for this to happen, no consequences for truancy are likely, and the rate of absenteeism has skyrocketed.  For the most part, this is a satisfactory arrangement on all sides--the parents are not pestered over the whys and wherefores that they have not elected to send their children on a particular day, and the school does not need to put up with the fears of other students or their parents should one student arrive with the sniffles.

 

Obviously, in this 7-year-old girl's case, the paranoid system has failed her.  It really is a tragedy--but the tragedy starts with the fear and medical/scientific ignorance that induces it.

... but the tragedy starts with the fear and medical/scientific ignorance that induces it.

 

Children were dying in school minivans in Thailand well before covid.

[AsianAtHeart]

11 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

... but the tragedy starts with the fear and medical/scientific ignorance that induces it.

 

Children were dying in school minivans in Thailand well before covid.

You are undoubtedly correct; but I hope you will read my post again and note that I was not applying my use of the word "tragedy" directly to this particular case, but rather to the broader tragedy of the systemic failure on account of paranoia which I feel may have contributed to this particular individual tragedy.

[pelagicpete]

Do the police have a part to play in this fatality?

Don't they investigate?

[KhaoNiaw]

15 minutes ago, pelagicpete said:

Do the police have a part to play in this fatality?

Don't they investigate?

They are investigating. 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

What did she die of ?

I don't think that sitting on a bus for eight hours would kill the girl

There are numerous stories of exactly that happening in Thailand (reported often on this very forum) - a child falls asleep on the school bus, gets accidentally carelessly locked in the bus, bus is parked in the sun...  The child dies through dehydration and heat-exhaustion.

 

That said: She was 7 years old and ‘should’ know how to exit a parked / locked bus which is why the mother is questioning the drivers story of events. 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

Why couldn't the poor child get out of the van herself? 

 

Does it all lock from the inside.... including the driver's door????

Thats why the mother suspects foul play.

 

There was also a law put in place that all school vans had a second adult as a ‘van-monitor’...  of course, the rules mean nothing. 

[richard_smith237]

5 hours ago, AsianAtHeart said:

Obviously, in this 7-year-old girl's case, the paranoid system has failed her.  It really is a tragedy--but the tragedy starts with the fear and medical/scientific ignorance that induces it.

No...... and not the ‘tragedy’...  it either ‘criminal negligence’ or a ‘criminal act’ and it starts and finishes with the driver.....

 

 

 

 

[AsianAtHeart]

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Thats why the mother suspects foul play.

 

There was also a law put in place that all school vans had a second adult as a ‘van-monitor’...  of course, the rules mean nothing. 

That "van monitor" duty has fallen to teachers here where I am.  Already over-worked teachers are made to come in early to go out with the vans on their rounds, then return home late after the evening rounds are done.  Here this is done on a rotation basis, with teachers rotating on a three-week schedule (one week on, two weeks off).  Keep in mind that a school has multiple vans, sent out in various directions, with each one needing the staffing, so some schools might require more frequent times for "on duty," and some schools may have less frequent.

 

But the teachers are not specially tasked on the vans with accounting for each passenger: their role has been promoted as one of traffic safety.  At each stop, the teacher is to get out of the van and personally escort the student(s) to the van, helping them to negotiate traffic, if need be, and perhaps shield them from the neighbors' dogs.  Perhaps they are also to help keep students in line while on the bus--no fighting.  I suspect that they are not the last ones off the vans once they reach the school, as they have other duties to attend to waiting for them.  For example, it might be that same teacher's week to take the microphone at flag raising, and the students are already milling about the yard waiting for their teacher to start the ceremony.

 

I tend to agree with you that the driver should have the primary responsibility, if indeed the child had been neglected in the van.  The parents of this child question that scenario, and think something more nefarious may have been going on.  We just don't know yet what exactly happened--and if someone had placed the child on the van, as the mother suspects, then the driver should not be guilty.  Until the facts are known, we should be careful not to lay blame where it may not be due.

 

When I drove bus, I always counted students either entering or exiting the bus, and made sure, with this mental tally, never to leave someone behind.  If I lost count, such as if several students went through the door at almost the same time and I might have missed seeing one, I would walk back through the bus and manually do the head count, checking each seat.  I never left anyone behind or on the bus.

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, AsianAtHeart said:

tend to agree with you that the driver should have the primary responsibility, if indeed the child had been neglected in the van.  The parents of this child question that scenario, and think something more nefarious may have been going on.  We just don't know yet what exactly happened--and if someone had placed the child on the van, as the mother suspects, then the driver should not be guilty.  Until the facts are known, we should be careful not to lay blame where it may not be due.

Perhaps the article is unclear, but wasn’t the child on the bus initially (i.e. transport to school), thus she never turned up in class ?

 

OR, as you suggest, could the child have been on a different bus, and somehow ‘intercepted’ and placed on this other bus later to mask the unthinkable ?

 

I agree with you... innocent until proven guilty, however the primary suspect and primary person accountable remains the driver and he needs to be questioned extremely firmly.