Boy, 9, In Odyssey To Find His Parents

[george]

Boy, 9, in odyssey to find his parents

Nine-year-old Billy Chaowandee, who fled his grandparents' home in Khon Kaen in a desperate attempt to find his parents in Bangkok, has been discovered in the capital after begging for 19 days.

Billy claimed he left home because he was afraid his grandparents would punish him for setting fire to a neighbour's hut and straw stack and he now refuses to return.

His grandfather Thong-on Sriboonmee and grandmother Thongyoon Sudngooleum alerted the authorities and the boy was finally found by a Bangkok social worker in Nonthaburi, north of the city.

Officials visited Billy's grandparents and concluded that the age gap explained the boy's reluctance to return home.

According to the boy, he embarked on the 400km-train journey to Bangkok with no cash, begging for money along the way and then paced the capital's highways looking for his parents.

He said his mother left him when he was three while earlier this year his father told Billy not to contact him again.

In Khon Kaen, Billy received just Bt5 a day to go to school and had to help his grandparents with housework and farming duties. Billy claimed he was regularly beaten and his grandfather said he had left home on at least three other occasions to look for his parents.

--thaivisa.com/The Nation 2006-03-05

[astral]

Not an uncommon story, I am sorry to say.

Please keep us posted on the plight of this kid.

Good luck Billy.

Edited March 7, 2006 by astral

[penzman]

Chok Dee Billy.

[Greer]

Poor kid - beaten at "home" by family who should love and care for him - no wonder he ran away - but sounds as if his father is an ars*hole too.

I truly hope he may be lucky enough to find his mother, if she is still around - I am sure he deserves better than this.

This story is so sad.

A kid that is obviously resourceful enough to get all the way to Bangkok with nothing deserves to make it somehow - I just hope he can be protected from ending up in the clutches of a criminal life.

Good luck Billy.

[English Noodles]

This is one of the things i dislike about the Thai mentality. Have kids, leave them with the Grand parents (or other familly members) and live elsewhere.

My heart goes out to this little boy, good luck Billy.

Noodles.

Edited March 7, 2006 by English Noodles

[Oswulf]

This is one of the things i dislike about the Thai mentality. Have kids, leave them with the Grand parents (or other familly members) and live elsewhere.

The reality is that there are many, many people out there living at a level of poverty that is almost inconceivable. There are families without land who earn as little as 20 Baht a day doing odd jobs for neighbouring farmers. There are families without money to buy even a little rice and whose children eat clay to take away the hunger pangs. For parents like this - and there are a lot of them - moving to Bangkok to work on a building site is the only option. They live many to a room in squalid conditions, and often get addicted to drugs and alcohol to take away the mental and physical pain of their condition. That's no environment in which to bring up a child.

So, please don't blame the "Thai mentality", blame the poverty and the desperation.

Edited March 7, 2006 by Oswulf

[meemiathai]

This is one of the things i dislike about the Thai mentality. Have kids, leave them with the Grand parents (or other familly members) and live elsewhere.

The reality is that there are many, many people out there living at a level of poverty that is almost inconceivable. There are families without land who earn as little as 20 Baht a day doing odd jobs for neighbouring farmers. There are families without money to buy even a little rice and whose children eat clay to take away the hunger pangs. For parents like this - and there are a lot of them - moving to Bangkok to work on a building site is the only option. They live many to a room in squalid conditions, and often get addicted to drugs and alcohol to take away the mental and physical pain of their condition. That's no environment in which to bring up a child.

So, please don't blame the "Thai mentality", blame the poverty and the desperation.

Then they simply do not deserve to have kids.

[Nawty]

If you cannot raise a kid and care for it, simply do not have it.

Nothing simpler than this. Spare us the poor people routine.

[jdinasia]

eat clay?

and nawt and meemia ... brilliant responses! <what's the emoticon for sarcasm?>

Poverty is real .. as is abuse ... There are ways around this. This boy could become a temple boy etc. Sadly it probably never occurred to him ... hope he gets some care and less judgement by idiots.