Mother of killed Myanmar victim arrives at funeral with milk tea for her daughter
The mother of a Myanmar national who was killed during Tuesday’s shooting spree at a shopping mall in Bangkok travelled from their home country to attend her daughter’s funeral.
The funeral of Moe Mynt, 31, was being held at Phasuk Maneechan Temple in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kret district.
Her mother Khin Win, 67, arrived at the temple with a cup of milk tea in her hand. Milk tea was her daughter’s favourite drink, and the mother placed it next to the coffin, asking her daughter’s spirit to enjoy the drink.
Khin Win said she had last spoken to her daughter on the phone last week, and only learned of her death two days ago.
Myanmar Ambassador U Chit Swe personally attended the funeral on Saturday, placing his wreath next to that of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The envoy offered his condolences to the victim’s mother and told her that the embassy would cover the accommodation cost during her stay in Thailand.
On Tuesday afternoon, a 14-year-old boy armed with a modified blank gun fired at shoppers in the Siam Paragon luxury mall, killing two people and injuring five others. A Chinese tourist and a Myanmar worker were killed, while another Chinese tourist, a Lao national and three Thais were injured.
Meanwhile, the body of Chinese national Zhao Jinnan, 34, who was killed in the shooting spree, will be shifted to her home country soon, a source said on Saturday.
The victim’s family has made arrangements with the Chinese Embassy, which assigned an agency to deal with the transport of the body.
The agency contacted the Police General Hospital’s Institute of Forensic Medicine on Friday to claim the body, according to a source who is familiar with the matter. The family wanted the date of the body’s pickup to be kept confidential, the source said.
Meanwhile, a large number of reporters gathered at the Institute of Forensic Medicine on Saturday morning following a rumour that the victim’s family was about to claim her body.
According to the source, bodies of foreigners can be kept at the Institute of Forensic Medicine for up to 30 days, although a longer period can be asked for cases like that of the Chinese shooting victim.
“This depends on the prime minister’s policy. But I think the family will not wait that long. They may pick up the body soon,” the source said.
