Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - August 12, 2005
Anjira Assavanonda
Due to her illness Noi has had to leave her nine-year-old daughter, Kaew, and her five-year-old son, who is HIV-positive, in the care of social workers at a state-run emergency home for children on Rama VI Road.
The children were taken from their house in Samut Prakan last Sunday when Noi and her husband, who also has Aids and is in a critical condition, were admitted to a local hospital and there was nobody to take care of them.
Noi was released from hospital yesterday but her husband has to stay on. Yet she has no wish to take her children back, and says staying at the home appears to be the best option for them.
"I do miss them dearly, but it should be better for them to stay there and have someone to care for them. What will happen to them if they stay with me and I die one day?" said the 24-year-old, who is unemployed.
Usually, her daughter took care of Noi and her husband, who became blind two months ago. Kaew did all the household chores and her responsibilities caused her to miss school often.
Kaew said she had to feed her parents, clean their bodies in the morning and evening, and also clean the house and wash clothes and dishes.
"Since my father can't see, I have to stay around and help him. Sometimes my mother, who cannot help herself, has bowel movements on the bed and I have to clean it up," she said.
Life was hard and sometimes the family went without food. Fortunately, they had kind-hearted neighbours who took turns helping them.
"Some days people brought me food. Some days I had to share a packet of instant noodles with my brother," Kaew said.
The burden she shouldered had stolen precious time from her childhood. Kaew said she rarely had time to play with other children, and when she was not at school she dedicated most of her time to her bed-ridden parents.
Neighbour Samarn Bunrod, 51, praised the girl for her unselfish behaviour, saying she did everything to take care of her parents, whose condition had deteriorated over the past few months.
"The couple had to go to hospital often. At first we didn't know the truth [that they had Aids]. We knew that only after they developed the symptoms," said Mr Samarn.
Kaew is too young to know that her parents suffer from HIV/Aids, a disease that could take them away from her forever.
She said life is better at the emergency children's home. `It's more fun here, with many toys and friends to play with," she said.
She had no idea when she would see her parents again, and nobody knows if she will have that chance.
Ratanawalee Kowapradit, chief of the home, said the centre would look after Kaew and her brother for the time being. They have to miss school for a while. The boy is at risk of related infections and needs to have further blood tests.
"We need to gather more information about their family and relatives. If they eventually lose their parents, we'll see if their relatives could look after them. If not, we'll find them an appropriate place, which could be a state welfare centre, to take care of them and their education,"said Ms Ratanawalee.
Noi has to suppress the urge to see her children again, saying she wouldn't know what to do if they asked to follow her back home. "It's best for us all not to see each other, at least for now," she said. "They are secure and happy. Their lives are better there."
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