A heartwarming story of a young security guard who became unemployed as a direct result of the pandemic. Every morning Mr. Somchai Bunphong brought his 5-year-old daughter to collect trash and old things along nearby streets to put food on his table. One day a writer saw the two of them collecting trash along Sukhumvit Road, in Chon Buri Province, and decided to write a story about them.
Somchai revealed that his daughter has not yet received an education because he doesn’t have enough money to pay for the school. Previously, he worked as a security guard for a company, but COVID-19 had shut it down and he was laid off. He said he cannot read or write which makes it even harder for him to find a job, so he does what he can to barely provide enough food on the table for the two of them and his father in a wheelchair.
After the story was posted, it received a lot of attention, and people from all over offered help, in fact over 944,391 Baht was donated to them in the form of a bank account set in Miss Arada Bunphong’s name. Also, she was given a scholarship at Ban Hin Wong School. They told her the majority of the money will remain in the account until she graduates with a bachelor’s degree which she was very excited to accept.
Later, Mr. Panthakon thanked the group president graciously for the bags of food and all the other donations. the group just asked the father to no longer take the little girl to walk to collect rubbish on the streets due to fear of them getting hurt by oncoming traffic.
It sounds like she has a bright future ahead of her.
