A Phuket Town school has issued a warning to parents over their children’s safety after a man in a white van was reported to have tried to abduct a student.
The warning came after parents took to Facebook to share a warning about a van that had been parked in front of Plookpanya School, when a man came out of the van to talk to a student sitting alone at the stairs at the school’s main gate, The Phuket News reported.
School director Winai Suriyaprakan said the man reportedly “took a piece of cloth to cover the mouth and nose of the student, but the student escaped and shouted to friends. The man ran away to the van and left.”
The director said the incident was being investigated but in the meantime the school, which has about 3,000 students, is asking parents to help ensure their children’s safety in being picked up and dropped off at the school.
“We have yet to confirm the incident actually took place. The school thought it best to take prudent steps to ensure the safety of children as our top priority while we sort this out,” Winai said.
If parents cannot come to pick up children immediately after school, the children must wait by a room where a teacher will be on duty until 5pm.
Students will not be permitted to leave school grounds until a parent picks them up.
“Parents often do not pick up their children until quite late, so we needed to issue the letter so they would understand what is happening,” Winai said.
“Meanwhile, we have teams of teachers who will stay behind after school to make sure the children are collected safely by their parents.”
Story: The Phuket News
