Child Drowns After Following Family Dogs Into Backyard Pond on His Second Birthday

Picture courtesy of Amarin.

An incident claimed the life of a two-year-old boy who drowned in a pond behind his home after following the family’s dogs while his parents briefly fell asleep.

At approximately 13:50 on 4 July, emergency services were alerted to the incident at a wooden raised house in Ban Dong Keng, Village 9, Sa-at Sombun Subdistrict, Mueang District, Roi Et. Police investigators, hospital doctors and rescue teams arrived promptly to the scene.

Locals gathered as rescuers recovered the boy’s body from the water and laid it on a bed inside the house. The deceased was identified as Master Apichat, aged two. He was found wearing only a round-neck T-shirt, with no signs of physical harm.

Mr. Sangwian 34, the boy’s father, explained that he had been ill and sleeping upstairs, while his wife and the toddler were downstairs. Upon waking to find the eldest son missing, he immediately began searching. Remembering that Apichat often followed the two family dogs, he went to check the pond about 100 metres from the house. There, the dogs were standing at the pond’s edge, looking down. Mr. Sangwian then saw his son’s body trapped among reeds in the water.

Mrs. Somrat 27, the boy’s mother, tearfully recounted that she had been nursing another child downstairs and briefly fell asleep. Upon waking, she could not find Apichat and searched the house and yard in panic before calling her husband to help. They discovered the boy drowned in the pond. Adding to the sorrow, the day was Apichat’s second birthday.

Authorities, after interviewing the parents and relatives, believe the boy had followed the dogs to the pond unattended and accidentally slipped into the water. The family’s dogs had often accompanied him to the pond before, but previous times the parents were watching. This time, the brief lapse in supervision led to the fatal incident.

The case is a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers posed by open water hazards around homes, especially for young children.

  Adapted by Asean Now from Amarin 2025-07-06