Patcharapol Panrak
Rayong social workers are monitoring a Maptaput oil worker shamed on the
Internet for allegedly caning his stepson.
Even after seeing this photo
of abuse against a 16-year-old high school student by his stepfather,
authorities refused to do anything about it, saying the matter is a domestic
one.
Rayong Social Development and Human Stability employees
and local police Sept. 17 examined wounds of the 16-year-old high school
student who had posted photos of his injured back on the Facebook
social-networking site, creating a media stir. Maj. Col. Virat Taechanant
said he considered the wounds domestic violence, but Social Development case
workers declared they were not serious enough to warrant arrest of the
allegedly abusive stepfather.
Instead, Administrative Affairs Chief Sorawit Thongkhum and social worker
Sathip Phuttanakul said they would begin monitoring the boy in case of
further abuse.
The teenager told authorities his stepfather, Kompon Glaopo, has physically
abused him and his kindergarten teacher mother repeatedly. The most recent
attack occurred because the boy forgot his glasses at school. The stepfather
took a stick and repeatedly beat him with it.
Unable to take any more abuse, the boy had a friend photograph the wounds
and post them to Facebook, hoping he’d get relief. The boy certainly didn’t
expect social workers to simply turn him back over to his abusive parent
with the advice that parents and children should talk about any disputes
they have.
