A 24-year-old Thai woman has appealed for help in tracing her biological daughter after previously discovering she had been raising another child for more than three years following an alleged baby swap by a nanny. Police in Bang Lamung have reopened the case and are now investigating possible links to human trafficking.

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The case was raised again, on 7 May 2026 at Bang Lamung Police Station, where Paweena Hongsakul, president of the Paweena Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women, accompanied the woman, identified only as Joy, to meet police chief Pol Col Sarawut Nuchanart. Officials from the Chon Buri Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office also attended the meeting.

Joy said she gave birth to a daughter on 6 October 2022 and later hired a nanny, Wichuda “Som”, who is now aged 32, to care for the child for 8,000 baht a month. When the baby was five months old, Som returned the child to Joy before eventually cutting off all contact.

In 2024, when the child was about 18 months old, another woman identified only as Ann contacted Joy through Facebook claiming to be the girl’s biological mother. Ann reportedly sent video clips of the child, prompting Joy to become suspicious and arrange DNA testing.

The test results showed Joy and the child she had been raising were not biologically related. Investigators later concluded that Som had allegedly swapped Joy’s daughter with Ann’s child. Som later claimed she had handed Joy’s biological daughter to a Myanmar couple to raise. Authorities are now attempting to trace the couple and determine the whereabouts of the missing child.

Joy had previously filed a criminal complaint against Som on charges related to abducting a child under the age of 15 for financial gain. A lower court sentenced Som to 10 years in prison, later reduced to five years after she confessed. She is currently free on bail while the case is being heard on appeal.

Paweena said she had coordinated with Pol Maj Gen Phongphan Wongmanithet, commander of Chon Buri Provincial Police, to accelerate efforts to locate the missing child and investigate whether the case is connected to a trafficking network. Police are also seeking to question Ann further after she reportedly spoke by telephone with officials earlier on the same day.

Amarin reported that Pol Col Sarawut confirmed that while the original case against Som remains under appeal, investigators will reopen all aspects relating to the missing child. He said all relevant parties would be questioned again in detail as police work to reunite the girl with her mother as quickly as possible.

Picture courtesy of Amarin

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Adapted by ASEAN Now Amarin 8 May 2026

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I would have thought maternal instinct would kick in

After about 5 seconds .....but what do I know !

A really unsettling story, especially for the mother — you can only imagine the distress she must be living with right now.

What makes it even harder to comprehend is how someone who’s already confessed can still be out on bail and free to appeal. It highlights some real gaps in how these cases are handled.

Hopefully the authorities move quickly to locate the child, and returned her to her mother.

2 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Joy said she gave birth to a daughter on 6 October 2022 and later hired a nanny, Wichuda “Som”, who is now aged 32, to care for the child for 8,000 baht a month. When the baby was five months old, Som returned the child to Joy before eventually cutting off all contact.

Nanny gets a totally new meaning in Thailand. Here it is somebody that you give away your child to, and get back after 5 five months. To me it´s a person who comes look after your child during work hours.

13 minutes ago, Jim Waldron said:

Hopefully the authorities move quickly to locate the child, and returned her to her mother.

As they talk about human trafficking it might be hard, as the child can be anywhere with a changed name as well or totally changed papers regarding all from birth date and forward.

Nanny gets a totally new meaning in Thailand. Here it is somebody that you give away your child to, and get back after 5 five months. To me it´s a person who comes look after your child during work hours.

Probably more common than you think in LOS, given the number of women who have to go to a different province to find work, especially in the hospitality industry.

UPDATE

Baby Swap Carer Jailed at Pattaya Appeal

On 5/8/2026 at 8:19 AM, impulse said:

Probably more common than you think in LOS, given the number of women who have to go to a different province to find work, especially in the hospitality industry.

Surely, that we all know. However, most of the time the child is given to family to care for.