The family of a girl kidnapped four years ago when she was just two days old is preparing to give her a warm welcome home after years of heartbreak.
However, social workers and others are concerned about how the child might be affected if she is taken from the home and community where she has grown up. Her real mother is worried that the reunion scheduled for Monday might be delayed.
Kalsuda Samdaeng, 30, the girl's real mother, and the child's grandparents were busy preparing a bedroom in one of their twin Thai-style wooden houses at Don Pom village in tambon Muang Kao in Khon Kaen's Muang district when the Bangkok Post visited the family on Saturday.
Ms Kalsuda said she was happy and excited that she would finally be reunited with her daughter, who was kidnapped from Khon Kaen Hospital on Feb 13, 2011.
The missing girl was found after police apprehended Anchulee Chitkhuntot, 32, of Chaiyaphum, in Muang district of Samut Prakan on Thursday. The breakthrough came after Mrs Anchulee's in-laws, who live in Chaiyaphum, took the girl to register at a school in Thep Sathit district. The teachers found some details on the girl's birth certificate had been changed and called police.
A police check revealed the girl had been taken from her real mother, Kalsuda, when she was only two days old. Mrs Anchulee admitted that she had kidnapped the child after suffering a miscarriage.
She is now in custody at Khon Kaen provincial court. She faces a jail term of 3-15 years for kidnapping.
Mrs Kalsuda said officials from the Khon Kaen social development and human security office and the provincial child and women's protection office planned to visit her home before she and her family travel to Chaiyaphum to meet her daughter on Monday.
The four-year-old girl, Siriprapa "Nong Boom", Samdaeng, the name given by her real mother, is now under the care of the accused kidnapper's parents-in-law in Chaiyaphum.
Wanlapa Samdaeng, 68, a retired civil servant and paternal grandmother of the missing girl, said she had given one of the twin Thai-style houses to Kalsuda after she became pregnant so that she would have a good home to raise the child.
However, the family's hopes and happiness vanished after the baby was kidnapped from the hospital, said the grandmother.
Mrs Kalsuda acknowledged that there could still be difficulties because the "fake" grandparents of the girl did not want to give her up.
"They say they love my daughter very much and don't want her to go with me. Instead, they asked me to stay with my daughter at their house in Chaiyaphum for two years,'' she said.
She said some officials had also been trying to persuade her to stay and raise her daughter in Chaiyaphum.
"How can that be? A mother has just been given a chance to reunite with her missing child. Do they want us to be parted again?" she asked.
"It's so strange that these agencies have been trying to persuade me to raise my child in Chaiyaphum for the sake of familiarity. Please look at the facts: having the child stay with her real mother will create family bonds and a warmer home than living with outsiders."
Somboon Samdaeng, 76, the girl's paternal grandfather, also questioned why officials appeared to be stalling the reunion. He said officials told him they wanted to arrange a phone-in and a video conference for the girl and her real family.
No matter what happens, the family would travel to Chaiyaphum to pick up the girl, said the grandfather, who showed off a placard reading "4 years waiting" that he had hung on the wall of the family home to welcome his grandchild.
After her arrest, Mrs Anchulee said she was ready to pay any price to have the child back after her release from jail.
However, Mrs Kalsuda ruled out any such negotiation, saying that she might be only a hired hand but would take the best care of her daughter.
"Even if the kidnapper offered me 2 million baht in exchange for my daughter, I would not accept the offer," she said. "I will not sell my child at any price. What I want most is to bring my daughter to stay with me in Khon Khaen. Relatives or the husband of the kidnapper, if they want to see my child, are allowed to visit her at my house at any time."
Dr Suwanee Ruangdet, director of the Nakhon Ratchasima Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital, said the mental health of the girl was now of the utmost importance and must be closely watched by whoever takes care of her.
Social workers or others should not ask the girl about what happened to her because the child would get confused as she was just 4 years old, said the psychiatrist.
Kalsuda Samdaeng, the mother of "Nong Boom", arranges a bedroom with toys for her daughter. (Photo by Jakkrapan Nathanri)