A press conference was held last night, chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Preechasilpa, to confirm the mother’s return, after she had left the hospital late on October 18, around eight hours after giving birth to her third child.
Ms Sommai said the mother, who would not be identified by hospital staff, was now living with her baby in the hospital, but had yet to make any decision about their future.
“She is mentally traumatised, and should not be shown in public,” she said.
“For the first 90 days, the baby can stay in the Baan Songkla foster home in Songkla province. After that, the mother must make the decision to treat her baby on her own, or give the baby to the foster home to look after,” said Jiranan Jiamjaroen, the chief of the Phuket Foster Home. The baby would go to the home in Songkla because the home was larger than the one in Phuket.
“The mother is not really ready to look after her baby now because she is poor. She has been working for five months, but has no earnings and lives with her friends.”
The unidentified woman already has a 10-year-old child, who is staying with grandparents in Chiang Rai, and another child, aged seven, who is living with the woman’s ex-husband and his new wife.
Thalang Hospital nurse Nantiya NinPang-Nga said, “There were many people calling me, offering to be the new parents. If the mother is unable to look after her baby and has to give it to the foster home, I will give the list of names to the Phuket Social Development and Human Security organisation.”
A fund has been created, and anyone wishing to donate can deposit money to the Islamic Bank of Thailand, Tesco Lotus Thalang branch, account name "Thalang Hospital for Mother and Child", account number 094-101-8652.