Father strives to bring home daughter’s body after Korean plane crash
An Udon Thani family mourns Jonglak Duangmanee, who died in the Jeju Air plane crash on December 29
The 179 lives were tragically lost on Sunday morning in southwestern South Korea when a Jeju Air flight from Bangkok crashed on arrival at Muan Airport and burst into flames. Two Thai women were among the victims, one of whom has been named as Jonglak Duangmanee, a 45-year-old resident of Udon Thani province.
After receiving the news, family members and Jonglak’s father gathered at her home in Udon Thani’s Nong Wua So district to discuss arrangements to bring her body back for a funeral ceremony at home. The village headman and a deputy district chief also visited to learn more about the situation.
Boonchuay Duangmanee, 77, spoke of his shock and disbelief upon learning that his daughter was among the passengers of the ill-fated Jeju Air flight. He stated that while he had seen similar incidents on the news, he never imagined such a tragedy would happen to his own child.
Boonchuay explained that he has three children, all of whom work abroad, including Jonglak, his youngest daughter. She had been working legally in South Korea for about seven years, where she eventually married a South Korean man. Jonglak was employed at a factory in Naju city.
His daughter would visit her hometown in Udon Thani once a year. This year, she brought her husband to Thailand in early December. After their visit, she sent her husband back first, and returned to South Korea on December 29.
Reflecting on possible premonitions, Boonchuay mentioned that his daughter once remarked that she might not return home again if family disputes continued. During her stay in Udon Thani from December 9 to 13, she appeared upset when the family couldn’t drive her to the bus station because they had to take a sick relative to the hospital.
Another premonition was when Jonglak handed her father 10,000 baht, instructing him to use it to pay for her funeral plan with the village fund. Boonchuay never imagined that this would be the last sum of money she would give him and that it would ultimately go toward her funeral.
He expressed his wish to have his daughter’s body returned home so that he could perform funeral rites and see her face one last time.
