On Sunday, two brothers from the rural province of Si Saket, cycled nearly 5 hours in an attempt to visit their father in prison only to find out it wasn’t visiting day. Their story was shared on Facebook by a prison guard and has netizens weeping across the country.
Apichai Manthong, who identified himself as a guard at Kantharalak District Prison, recorded his conversation with the two boys who cycled 50 kilometers on their own to visit their father over the weekend.
The boys both look younger than 10 years old.
“They left home at 7:30am and arrived at the prison at 12:10pm. Bad luck that they dropped and shattered their phone on the way. I felt sorry for these kids because it was not visiting day.”
When asked why their mother didn’t accompany them, the boys said in northeastern dialect, “Mom is in Bangkok,” and they live with their grandmother.
They innocently said they have a big brother, but he’s gone mental, both laughing when they told the guard.
Apichai could not allow the children in, but he took them to the administration, who told them their father’s release date.
“The children were happy to hear their dad’s release date. I was touched by the love they have for him. They were free from school on the weekend so they wanted to see their dad. I almost cried.”
Apichai said he only had THB200 cash (USD6) in his pocket, so he handed the boy a THB100 bill to buy lunch and gave them free bottled water from the prison for their ride.
“Dear Buddha, please let these boys get home safely. I’d like to send a message to the head of their community. If they want to come see their dad, please give them a ride. I don’t want them to cycle all the way here. It’s dangerous,” Apichai wrote.
Many netizens praised Apichai for helping the boys. Others said the story has made them weep.
“No matter how far, the love they have for their dad makes the distance seem much shorter. I’m rooting for you two boys. Please grow up to be good people in society,” one user commented.
