A Pattaya student who threatened to commit suicide over not getting change from a baht bus is being treated for depression that began after sibling beatings forced him to live with his aunt.
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The unnamed ninth-grader at Phothisamphan Pittayakarn School on Sept. 14 threatened to jump from a Sukhumvit Road pedestrian crossing near the Royal Thai Marines headquarters, but was talked down
The youth said he decided to end it all after taking a baht bus from his Pattaya school and was refused and insulted when he asked for change from a 100-baht note.
Speaking with Alisara Jaipetch, a social worker from a local Social Welfare and Human Security office, the boy admitted he suffers from depression for which he takes daily medication. He said he has a number of family problems and the incident with the driver upset and offended him.
Alisara visited the youth Sept. 16, bringing him and the aunt who he lives with a bag of rice and other supplies.
The ninth-grader said he came to live with his aunt because his older brother used to beat him. He now goes to school in at Photisamphan in Pattaya because his aunt works as a janitor there. So he takes a baht bus to and from school every day.
Baht bus driver Jatuporn Chaochiengyuen, 26, said he never insulted the youth, that the boy never asked for change and that he had been unsure at the time what bill his student had paid with, as there were many passengers paying at the same time.
Land Transport Department officials said they were considering fining the driver up to 10,000 baht for overcharging.
Related story: Pattaya Baht bus driver’s refusal to give change pushes suicidal student over edge
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