Nong DJ was miraculously found in hillside jungle several kilometres from his family home six days after he was last seen by his family. He is now recovering at Vachira Phuket Hospital. (See story here.)
However, Pairoth Thepabuth, 60, who farms the fruit patch and lives under a lean-to about 50 metres from where Nong DJ was found, said he saw Nong DJ walking near his shack on Saturday afternoon (Feb 6), said Wichit Police Chief Col Kittipong Klaikaew revealed today.
“But he thought Nong DJ was a boy from a Myanmar camp only 100 metres away, plus he was afraid his dog would bite the child, so he chased him away,” Col Kittipong said.
Also, at the time, Mr Pairote had no idea that any child was missing in the area, he added.
Worse, Maj Prawat Tantiputsapan, who is leading the investigation, told The Phuket News, “Mr Pairote said that later, on Monday night, he heard a sound that could have been a child crying and calling out ‘Yai’ (Grandma), but in the end he thought it was just a cat meowing, so he didn’t think anything more of it.”
Despite the latest revelation, Col Kittipong told The Phuket News that he was not ready to close his investigation.
“I am still yet to properly understand how a child could get so far from home,” he said.
“We have never had a child abduction case in Wichit area before, and we have questioned the family extensively and believe that this is not a domestic affair.
“Also, for some reason Nong DJ’s clothes all looked fine when we found him, but he was not wearing shoes. There should be some explanation for that, too,” Col Kittipong said.
“I would still like to question Nong DJ himself about all this, but not until he is feeling better. I do not want to put the boy under even more stress after such an ordeal. We just need more time,” he added.