Social workers and Pattaya police, yesterday (Friday), escorted a 10-year-old boy, who was found to have been smoking weed at a fish market in Pattaya, back to a child care centre in Chon Buri province.
The boy, whose parents have separated, was taken to the child care centre some time ago by his grandmother, in the hope that they could change his behaviour and bad habits.
The grandmother, who was not identified for reasons of confidentiality, said that the boy subsequently escaped from the child care centre and returned to live with her. He then ran away with his street friends, after quarrelling with her, and she said that she did not know where he was until she learned that he had been seen smoking weed at the market.
A social worker from the child care centre in Chon Buri and Pattaya police spent about two hours talking with the boy, after he was taken to the Pattaya police station.
They reportedly asked him why and how he smoked weed and about his family problems and convinced him to go back to the child care centre. After the interview, he was escorted to Bang Lamung district hospital for medical check before being taken to the centre.
Meanwhile, Wuttisak Rermkijakarn, the vice mayor of Pattaya City, claims that the city has been trying to solve the homeless problem, but the work is being hindered by human rights advocacy groups.
He said that officials concerned will reconsider the problem.
Last night, local administration officials conducted a field inspection of all shops selling cannabis and its extracts in Pattaya, especially in the Walking Street area, to check their licenses and to warn them against selling to underage people or pregnant women.
