Freshman suffers serious head injury in haze party

Nirojsak Inthachote, a 16-year-old electronics-major student, was rushed to the Muang Petch-Thon Buri Hospital where he underwent an emergency brain surgery.

His elder brother, Piyapong Inthachote, a second-year student who was at the haze and brought Nirojsak to the hospital, said his brother's injury was from the impact of falling face down on the sandy beach as part of a haze activity.

Prior to the incident, a total of 36 alumni, senior students, second-year and first-year students left Bangkok on a hired bus Tuesday morning for the haze ceremony at the bungalow. The senior students then drank rice whisky mixed with sweet water until all were drunk, Piyapong said.

 At 6pm, one of the seniors identified only as Miss Bew, ordered some 10 junior students including Nirojsak to do "thing ding", falling face first on the sandy ground, continuously until a freshman passed out.

Using first aid to resuscitate the freshman, they ordered the rest to keep doing "thing ding" until 9pm when Piyapong noticed that Nirojsak was unconscious. He then urged the seniors to take his brother to a hospital but was ignored, so he turned to the bus driver.

The victim's father Prasit Inthachote, 47, said he was saddened by what happened to his son and that his family had no money to cover the medical expenses.

"I don't know where to find the money and who will be responsible for this," he said, adding that, if possible, he wanted his son transferred to the state-run Phra Chomklao Hospital where he could use a Bt30 universal healthcare card to reduce the medical bills.

The victim's mother, Nanthaporn Inthachote, 48, said the senior students had promised to assist with the medical bills, which amounted to Bt100,000. She said doctors also told her to prepare for the worst because Nirojsak's condition was very serious and had not responded so far. She and her husband also filed a police complaint at Chao Samran Beach police station.

Police reportedly invited Miss Bew and  the other senior students for interrogation at the precinct late Tuesday night but were unable to give testimonies as they were still drunk.