On Sunday, our motorcycle taxi drivers were heroes for a change. Just before 1:00 a.m., a group of motorcycle taxi drivers who worked in the market area of South Pattaya Rd, led by Mr. Boonmee Seesuwan, aged 40, brought a boy approximately 4 or 5 yrs old named Opal to Pattaya Police Station.  Opal had been found by this motorcycle taxi group walking alone and crying near their taxi stop at around 5 pm Saturday. His clothes were wet and full of sand. The taxi group found new clothes for the boy to change into and tried to make friends with him to dry his tears. Once the boy stopped crying, he told the taxi drivers that his mother, named Miao, had brought him by local bus to Pattaya for a fun day of swimming, but after awhile he found he could not locate his mother.

The taxi group assumed the mother would be trying to find the boy, so they immediately informed the police that the boy was with them and safe, in case the mother contacted the police.   Meanwhile, the drivers tried to help the boy by taking him back to the area where he remembered going swimming.

After 3 hours, there was still no sign of contact from the mother. The taxi group tried to help the boy until late that night, before bringing him to the police for help. Lt. Col. Supachai Puikamgaew of the Pattaya Police gently questioned the boy before contacting the Chonburi Family and Children’s Home located in the Rongpo area, on the way to Laem Chabang port.

It is still unclear whether the boy had been abandoned or whether he was missing for another reason. The boy will be kept at the home until further investigation is done and the mother is located. 

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