Juling's 'real mother' at funeral rites.
THEERAWAT KHAMTITA
TEACHER'S DEATH
Chiang Rai _ A sixty-year-old woman has come forward claiming to be the biological mother of Juling Pongkunmul after attending the young teacher's funeral rites this week. Juling finally succumbed to her injuries on Monday after nearly eight months in a coma since being brutally beaten in a school hostage drama in Narathiwat on May 19 last year.
Chanpen Sankham said poverty forced her to give up the young Juling, her fourth child, for adoption.
They all lived in the same village in Bang Pong Noi in Chiang Rai's Doi Luang district.
Juling merely knew her as an aunt, she said.
The woman said she stepped forward simply to attend her daughter's funeral rites and was not seeking any financial gain.
Her Majesty the Queen, who had accepted the teacher under royal patronage, donated 500,000 baht yesterday for the teacher's funeral arrangements.
Narathiwat governor Karan Suppakitwilekkarn on Tuesday gave Juling's parents 459,000 baht in compensation for her death.
Mrs Chanpen said she had never regretted giving up her daughter, as her adoptive parents, Soon and Khammee, had been good to her and gave her an education that she could never afford.
She said she had travelled to Hat Yai twice to visit Juling at the Prince of Songkhla Hospital since her daughter fell into a coma.
Soon's sister, Gong Prommuang, 65, yesterday confirmed that Mrs Chanpen was in fact Juling's biological mother.
Mrs Chanpen wept throughout the funeral rites held at Wat Pong Sanug on Tuesday.
She said members of Juling's adopted family had not wanted her to reveal her identity.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn sent a wreath to the funeral rites yesterday. The date for the royally-sponsored cremation has not been set
Bangkok Post
Thursday January 11, 2007
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