Anxious residents gather
around a local fishing pond, fearing for a young boy’s life until learning
that it was all just a cruel hoax.
Patcharapol Panrak
A boy crying wolf led a water-rescue team to a Sattahip
pond to search for a youngster that had supposedly drowned, but was, in
fact, home with his parents.
Sawang Thammasathan Foundation rescuers and Najomtien
residents were outraged by the prank by 8-year-old Piyapong Wan-ngam, who
had his mother call authorities after telling her that a 6-year-old neighbor
had drowned in a three-meter-deep fish pond June 25.
Sawang Thammasathan rescuers dived into the pond, and
then called in extra divers and equipment when they could not locate the
boy. While waiting for the gear to arrive, a neighbor arrived to say the
6-year-old was safe at home.
Piyapong stuck to his story, however, saying he saw the
boy go fishing in the pond, then not resurface. But eventually a sly smile
spread across the urchin’s face and he admitted he’d made up the whole
thing.
The prankster’s mother, Pranee Bunthiem, scolded Piyapong
for lying, but authorities did not file charges for filing a false report
and wasting their time and money.
