Family of Covid victim sues Prayut, CCSA for THB4.5m
The mother of Kulsub Watthanaphol, a well-known figure in Thailand’s e-sport industry, filed a case at Administrative Court on Friday to demand THB4.53 million in compensation for the death of her son.
Kulsub died on April 23 during the ongoing third wave of the epidemic, becoming Thailand’s 137th Covid-19 fatality.
Kulsub’s brother, Kulchet, appeared in court as his mother’s proxy and demanded the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the prime minister, his secretary and the PM’s Office pay compensation of THB4.53 million for “negligence” in treating Kulsub, who contracted Covid-19 from an infection cluster in Bangkok.
Kulchet said that his brother died because he had not received proper treatment in time. “The CCSA announced telephone helplines – 1330, 1422, 1668, 1669 and 1323 – for people who suspected they had contracted Covid-19,” he said.
“When my brother developed Covid-like symptoms he called these numbers. However, they were either busy or someone picked up but did not send help right away.”
Negligence by agencies the family is suing was also what fuelled the Covid-19 outbreak at Thong Lor entertainment venues in late March, Kulchet added. Therefore, those agencies must pay for the damage that has befallen his family, he said.
“Had the CCSA imposed a strict lockdown on entertainment venues and banned travel during the Songkran holiday, the latest wave of Covid-19 with over 2,000 new infections daily would never have happened.”
Kulchet also explained that the THB4.53-million compensation demand was based on the money that Kulsub sent to his mother – THB15,000 every month. Since he died at 35 and would have sent the money until he was 60, his mother is now missing income of THB4.5 million, plus the funeral costs of THB30,000.