Peepo’s story exposes lack of child support

The story of a 13-year-old boy in Nakhon Si Thammarat who lived on the streets, was hit by a car, and later rebuilt his life has gone viral.

- Karnjana Karnjanatawe

Yet the life of Peepo — as the boy is called by the media — offers not just inspiration. His story exposes years of parental neglect and a lack of state mechanisms to help abandoned children.A recent Facebook post shows Peepo in a school uniform, with a shy smile on his face. The bruises around his eyes and body from the accident have faded. What remains — and may never disappear — is the story behind it.

Peepo had been sleeping on staircases and in corridors at Maharaj Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital last month — not by choice, but out of necessity. His mother died when he was very young, and his four siblings went their separate ways. His father remarried but did not want to keep him, fearing it would upset his new wife. Peepo eventually ran away after enduring physical abuse.

In interviews, Peepo said he did not want to become a beggar. The stoic young boy took on small errands, earning just enough to buy vegetables from a nearby market and sell them around the hospital grounds. With no home or relatives to turn to, he slept at the hospital.