NONG BUA LAM PHU: A red toy truck discarded by the wall and an unmade bed, messy with blankets, are tragic reminders of a young life cut short in this week’s nursery massacre in this northeastern province.
Three-year-old Nannaphat Songserm — known by his nickname Stamp — a happy, smiling boy, was one of 24 children murdered on Thursday in a gun and knife attack by a former policeman in a quiet rural village in Na Klang district.
Now his parents Sujittra Pornikhom and Satthaporn Songserm and their family are left to mourn in a house filled with memories of their little boy.
“I keep telling myself that I should not have let him go to school that day, but there was nothing I could do,” said Stamp’s grandmother Banyen Srichanil, who helped raise him.
“No one knew that something like this could happen,” the 57-year-old said.
The tragedy has stunned the kingdom, with flags being flown at half-mast throughout the country, and His Majesty the King personally visiting the community on Friday.
But none of that pierces the grief of the family mourning in a small three-room home just five minutes from the nursery.
Devoted parents
Stamp, who already resembled his father, got his nickname after his mother’s love for collecting the local convenience store’s brightly coloured postage papers.
The day he was born was one of her happiest moments, said the 29-year-old.
“When I was pregnant all I wanted to see was his face. When I first saw his face I was really happy,” she told AFP.
But Sujittra only got to see her son during festivals and holidays as she and his father worked long hours in a factory in Chon Buri — an eight-hour drive to the south — to send money home.
The last time they were together, she took him to the beach.
“He really loved it,” she said.
“After when we were back, he would always ring me and tell me he wanted to go back to the beach. ‘When will you take me, mum?’,” she said, her voice dissolving in tears
“Everything I did in my life was just for one reason — for him.” (Story continues below)
Sujittra Pornikhom (left) and Satthaporn Songserm (right), parents of three-year-old “Stamp”, console his grandmother Banyen Srichanil in their home in Na Klang. (AFP Photo)
‘Heartbroken’
The chubby-cheeked boy grew up in the house, sleeping upstairs with his grandmother, visited by his parents as often as they could and surrounded by his friends.
Signs of him are everywhere, from the toys to the scuff marks along the walls made by him and his friends, to the unmade bed upstairs that he shared with his grandmother Banyan.
“I am heartbroken. I miss him,” she said, sobbing as her daughter held onto her.
“If reincarnation really exists, I hope that he will be born into our family again. I don’t want him to be born elsewhere,” she said.
The family is typical of those in the area: mostly farmers and factory workers who hold the monarchy, the military and police as untouchable pillars of their lives.
But following the nursery tragedy, some are beginning to question that authority.
“The system was not strong enough to stop him (the shooter),” said Stamp’s aunt, Praprai Kaew-wohan.
Former police officer Panya Khamrab started his rampage shortly after midday on Thursday before ending it all at 3pm when he shot his wife and stepson before killing himself.
In total, the attacker killed 36 people before ending his own life.
And in the aftermath of the assault, hundreds of officials have flooded into the remote area — all promising financial assistance, among them Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha.
“It was not worth what we lost,” said Praprai, explaining that as the attacker had killed himself he would never face trial, or justice.
Their loss, she said, “could not be compensated” by his death.
Unkept promise
“He would play all day,” said father Satthaporn, 31, the anguish in his voice clear as he described how his son would play with anyone and “anything”.
The family do not know what they will do next month, when they were to have celebrated Stamp’s fourth birthday.
“I asked him what he wanted for his birthday this year,” Satthaporn said, on the Wednesday evening before the attack.
Stamp, he said, had his heart set on a pork barbeque party with friends and family — and Satthaporn promised him that he would make it happen.
“I cannot believe that was the last time I spoke to him,” he said, his voice shaking.
“I couldn’t make his wish come true.”