SARABURI: A toddler who was reportedly using e-cigarettes and drinking kratom juice has been taken into child protective custody by the authorities.
The 19-month-old child was removed from his family's house in Muang district’s tambon Nong Pla Lai on Saturday and is now under the care of the province’s Shelter for Children and Families.
The protective removal came after Ekapop Luengprasert, an adviser to the Interior Minister and founder of the Sai Mai Tong Rod Facebook page, received a complaint about the boy’s well-being from concerned neighbours.
Neighbours said the boy’s mother, 17, uploaded several videos of her son being fed kratom juice and vaping on her social media.
The toddler was reported to be addicted to both substances and threw a tantrum if the parents did not give him them, according to the petition.
His parents claimed the boy took such substances out of his own free will.
His grandmother, 39, said no one forced the boy to use e-cigarettes, and he was given soft drinks, not kratom juice.
The boy was sent to Saraburi Hospital on Monday for a health examination.
According to the shelter director, Aphiwat Wiriyarom, the boy underwent a CT scan to check for traces of damage caused by the substances to his lungs and respiratory tract.
Further investigation was to be conducted and a possible management plan formulated before sending the boy back to his family, Mr Aphiwat said.
However, the boy will remain in the shelter’s care should his family be unable to care for him, according to Mr Apiwat, who added that drinking parties were common in the community where the boy’s family lived, and it may have contributed to his easy access to kratom and e-cigarettes.
Pol Col Suriya Sudkungwan, Saraburi Provincial Station superintendent, said that the police had filed an accusation against the boy’s father, identified only as Waiyawut, 31, for illegally importing an e-cigarette.