BOY RECOGNISES A PRISONER AS HIS FATHER AND BOWS TO SHOW HIS RESPECT WHEN HIS DAD CRIES
A school trip to a Thai prison turned into a heartbreaking reunion for one teenage boy when he recognised one of the inmates – his father, who burst into tears for ‘embarrassing’ his son.
The emotional moment was revealed in a touching Facebook post, which said the pair ‘tearily ran into each other’s arms’ at the unidentified prison in Rayong province.
Arom Khunmoung, team leader of Jam Banjeud Rayong, an organisation which arranges educational and recreational trips for schools and firms, said he saw one of the boys ‘sadly standing and staring at a prisoner’ during the tour, held to teach moral values.
He then noticed tears streaming down the
pupil’s face, and ‘what was strange to me was that the prisoner was staring and crying too.
‘So I went to ask the boy what had happened.’ The pupil replied: ‘Teacher, that’s my dad. I’m very shocked [to see him].’
Arom, describing the prison as ‘depressing’, said on Facebook that when the boy asked to speak with his father, he initially thought: ‘I’m not sure if this is a good idea.’
However, he asked the warden if he would permit the family members to approach one another, reports Coconuts Bangkok.
As those nearby started to cry at the touching scene, the pair ‘tearily ran into each other’s arms’.
Arom added: ‘The father kept on kissing the boy while murmuring “I’m so sorry, I miss you. When I leave this place I’m going to be a good person. Please be a good boy, son”.’
The overwrought father then asked his boy: ‘Are you ashamed of me? Are you embarrassed for your friends to see that I’m in prison?’ His son replied: ‘No, I’m not ashamed at all.’ Then, to show respect using a traditional Thai gesture, the boy knelt on the floor to kowtow at his father’s feet.
Arom described the boy as ‘full of gratitude’ at being able to see his dad – whose crime and sentence were not revealed in the post.
He added that such prison trips were an important ‘teaching style for people who still have many freedoms.’