Following Tuesday’s tragic incident in which four unattended children fell from the balcony of a Bangkok apartment, their Thai grandfather is insisting the family will not give custody of the three surviving children to their expat father.
Ead Prakaikaew, 68, told TV reporters that Swiss father, Marcel Borel, has asked to care for the children himself after the horrific incident, which left a 5-year-old boy dead, but the family has insisted the children stay with them.
Ead alleged that when his daughter Rattikarn was in a relationship with Borel, who works as an English teacher, he frequently went out partying, smoked cigarettes with the children inside the room, and didn’t properly feed the them when they were under his care. Ead went so far as to claim that the children often had to ask neighbors for food.
The grandpa specifically recalled a day when he visited the children, and Borel’s neighbor approached him and handed him a THB100 (US$3) bill, urging him to take the children out to eat, Amarin TV reported.
Ead also claimed that the English teacher never sent money to support the children, though it’s important to note Borel has yet to speak to media or share his side of the story publicly.
According to local media reports, the eldest child, 11-year-old Didi, was washing dishes on the balcony at about 1am on Tuesday, when her younger siblings climbed on top of a piece of wood that had been screwed on top of the balcony for use as a storage shelf. The board then gave way as the children tried to pull each other up onto it.
While their grandmother, who lives in the same building, had been at the apartment earlier to feed the children, they were then left unattended, because Rattikarn had to work a night shift at her hotel job.
While Didi survived and only broke a leg, 10-year-old Luca broke several bones and is suffering from swelling in the brain. Chanida, 7, also has brain swelling and stopped breathing twice yesterday, though doctors successfully revived her. The two remain in the intensive care unit.
Meanwhile, the Thai mother is pleading for the government sector to help with the children’s medical bills as she cannot afford to pay the mounting costs, which exceed what’s covered under the government’s healthcare program for the poor.
The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security has vowed to aid the family, adding that they have sent psychologists and social workers to talk to the mother.
The department ensured that they will offer further help as necessary, Daily News reported.
Lostinsaan says
I wouldn’t trust the woman, not her daddy. The Swiss guy had no contact for four years and was angry that he didn’t get a 20,000 baht “loan” back from his wife?
I know that teachers don’t make a lot of money, but I’d assume that she’s also using the cash for the kids, also his kids.
If that’s all true, the Swiss guy seems to be as strange as his wife. Working in a hotel at night, well, i also believe in Santa.
Too many people right now fall of balconies, usually older people, Thailand isn’t the former beautiful country anymore.
After 15 years of living and teaching here, I’m really thinking of leaving. But i couldn’t go back to my country of origin, it became so strange to me. I’m trapped.
To many people here marry bargirls after knowing them for weeks, or a few months, that’s insane.
Would anybody from Germany ( country doesn’t matter) marry a prostitute from Frankfurt, just because she’s telling him how handsome he is?
Men who come here the first time, should read My Private Dancer” fist and then think. And not with the little head!!
Stay safe out there, it’s a dangerous jungle.
Jim68 says
A family of four kids trying to live on the salary of a non-native speaker’s English teaching job sounds horrible. No wonder they were divorced. Still, you have to admit that the lack of care for the children as they were left alone to climb on that ledge is mind-blowing. I would like to hear the father’s side of the story, not this old grandpa’s.
Lostinsaan says
Jim68, it’s got absolutely nothing to do with the guy being a NNES! The woman was/is on Jaba and did crazy things in the past. She stole money and did all to afford her nasty drug.
The guy had all of them and she wasn’t allowed to see them. But that then turned when she took them for a holiday and never brought them back.He’s fighting for his kids, but nobody seems to care about him.
I know how difficult it is to work as an English teacher and the low salaries, also for NES teachers, are a joke.
The woman’s parents always locked them in, what would have been in case of a fire? So please don’t blame the foreigner, blame the insane and drug addicted woman.
It’s never enough and schools follow agencies by offering less money and more contact hours. Thailand isn’t as nice as it once was.