A five year old boy with special needs went missing from an education centre in Mae Wang district in the northern province of Chiang Mai on Wednesday.
The boy, Napaphat “Pleum” Chaisawat, disappeared from the Special Education Centre in the afternoon. He was wearing red sportswear with the number 23 on his shirt. Security camera footage from the centre showed Pleum playing in a sandbox at 12.11pm, November 27, before vanishing.
The area surrounding the education centre includes banana plantations, rice fields, and a canal. Rescuers, police, and local volunteers have been searching extensively for Pleum. Divers also searched the canal but found no sign of him.
Pleum’s mother told Channel 7 that her son rarely speaks, but he enjoys playing with friends and loves swimming. She suspects that he may have wandered out of the school and accidentally fallen into the canal. She expressed her deep concern and hope for a miracle to bring him back safely.
The superintendent of Mae Wang Police Station put forward three possible explanations for Pleum’s disappearance. One theory is that the boy may have exited the school through an unlocked door and either fallen into the canal or wandered into the dense banana plantation.
Another possibility is that someone might have taken Pleum, and suspicions have been raised about an elderly woman found nearby on November 29.
The elderly woman, who reportedly has a mental illness, told police she encountered Pleum and offered him food and drink before he ran into a banana plantation located 5 kilometres from the education centre.
Police and rescuers searched the area mentioned by the woman but found nothing. Channel 7 noted that the woman gave several additional details about Pleum but her statements were inconsistent and contradictory.
Anyone who sees Pleum or has information about his whereabouts is urged to contact the Mirror Foundation at 095-631-1914 or the Thai PBS Missing Person Centre at 02-790-2111.
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