School to compensate family for running over boy after dropping him at home

A Chonburi school is still negotiating a settlement after one of its school vans ran over a 4-year-old student in front of his home last month.

School van driver Kitti Leelathanaporn, 46, said he did not see the kindergartner, identified as “Smart,” who he’d just dropped off on Nov. 11, when Smart ran in front of his vehicle. Amazingly, Smart escaped mostly unharmed.

After he realized he might have hit the child, Kitti immediately got out of the vehicle at the same moment the child’s nanny, 33-year-old Pattareeya Supanpong, ran out of the house at the sound of his scream.

In footage captured by another motorist, the van is seen rolling over Smart’s body before the boy, appearing a bit dazed, sits up on his own.

An offer of THB100,000 and free tuition by the school to settle the matter has been rejected, as Smart’s parents are demanding THB300,000.

According to the school, the vans are usually accompanied by teachers who walk the students to their door, but that day the teacher was sick, forcing Kitti to work alone.

The parents, whose names were withheld, The have decided to take Smart out of the school and move to Chantaburi, Khaosod and Thairath reported.