Waraporn Changtam died instantly as she was crossing the street with her boyfriend. Bank workers & friends Pranee & Suchada had felt they needed to pray on the way home.
Waraporn Changtam died instantly as she was crossing the street with her boyfriend. Bank workers & friends Pranee & Suchada had felt they needed to pray on the way home.
Waraporn Changtam was crossing the street with her boyfriends when the bomb went off and died instantly. Inset: Bank workers and friends Pranee & Suchada felt they needed to pray on the way home.
BOMBING AFTERMATH
Bangkok bombings: Tragic loss of life
In a brief flash the hopes & dreams of six people met a violent end, this is the story of two of these people. 23/08/2015 Spectrum article by Jitsiree Thongnoi, Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai and Ariane Kupferman-Sutthavong
Close colleagues: Suchada Nisrida and Pranee Srisuwa were killed at the shrine after work.
Pranee Srisuwa: Devoted wife & friend
The family of bank worker Pranee Srisuwa was told on Monday night that she had died in the bomb blast. But it wasn’t until Tuesday — after a cruel case of misidentification — that her death was confirmed.
Pranee worked at the SME loan department at Standard Chartered Bank in Bangkok and they sensed they should ring to check if she was alright. "Usually, my sister Pranee called my mother on a daily basis. She didn’t call that day," Ms Kanya her sister said.
Pranee did not answer any call that night, and the eventual news of her death came as a shock for the whole family. Her sister called her husband, a naval officer working at the Satthahip Naval Base in Chon Buri province, to give him the sad news.
According to Ms Kanya, the funeral was packed with mourners, not only because of the bombing headlines but because of the kindness her sister had shown to others while alive.
"She worked in Bangkok for the past 10 years and whenever she visited her home town she always brought something for everyone," her sister said. "For example, if she came home during Songkran festival, 20-30 people, old and young, would get T-shirts from her, in different sizes."
"Most importantly, she took such good care of our parents. When she came home, she always took care of the food, made sure they had good things to eat. She brought home a big bottle of nutritional supplements for them. If she had a bonus from work, she would spend it on taking them for a check-up at a private hospital."
Pranee's husband is a soldier and never cries, but at the funeral, he broke into tears.
"During the funeral, he lit a stick of incense and brought some food to his wife's coffin and sat down and ate as if he was eating with her."
"He said, ‘She took care of me so well. She made sure my clothes were clean and my shoes were shined.’ "
On Monday night, Pranee, along with her work colleague Suchada Nisrida, 32, was travelling home from work.
On a usual weekday, Pranee would take a bus back to her place in the Din Daeng area, where she spent the weeknights. On weekends, she usually travelled to Chon Buri to be with her husband.
On Monday night, Pranee and Suchada felt they needed to pray. They made a stop at the Erawan Shrine around 7pm and as the bomb went off five minutes before 7pm, Suchada was killed on the spot. Pranee sustained injuries to her left leg and severe burns and died later at the hospital.
Waraporn Changtam: Family breadwinner
The force of the explosion tore metal bars from the fence around the Erawan Shrine, transforming them into deadly projectiles. Waraporn Changtam was struck from behind, her head impaled.
Waraporn was crossing the street when the bomb went off. She had just taken a group of friends from Hong Kong to Erawan Shrine, a famous attraction for Chinese visitors, and the group was on the way to dinner at nearby CentralWorld.
In the panic that followed the blast, her friends began to run. But as her boyfriend turned around, he saw Waraporn collapse to the ground. In a state of shock, he could do little other than wait for the rescue teams to arrive before calling Waraporn’s family to deliver the sad news.
"[Waraporn] is the breadwinner of the family. She is the one who keeps our family going … Without her, our lives will be much more difficult. She died so young." said Waraporn’s sister
Waraporn was the youngest of six children in her family. She was always the smartest, said her sister, but was never able to pursue higher education because of her family’s difficult financial situation. As soon as she graduated from a vocational school, Waraporn found a job and had been supporting the family ever since.
She eventually saved enough money to purchase a massage parlour in Pattaya, where she would later meet her boyfriend, from Hong Kong.
Despite her success, she remained committed to her family back in Nonthaburi.
"Even when she had a house in Pattaya and a condominium in Bangkok, she still managed to be part of the family," said her sister.
Compounding the family’s grief is the uncertain financial situation they now find themselves in. Waraporn’s mother is 76 years old and, and battling numerous chronic diseases, she needs constant medical care. Her father is 79 and also in poor health.
The money Waraporn was able to provide ensured her parents were able to maintain a good quality of life while paying medical expenses of close to 100,000 baht a month.
Now, with Waraporn gone, it’s not clear how those bills will be paid.
The last time Waraporn was with her whole family was on Mother’s Day, which they spent together in Nonthaburi enjoying a home-cooked meal.
With no indication of what was to come just days later, there was no chance for proper goodbyes.
Waraporn was due to take her mother on a dinner cruise on Tuesday, the day after the bombing.
What the family say they want most now is for police to return Waraporn’s possessions. Her boyfriend said he saw a police officer take her gold necklace, iPhone 6 and the contents of her handbag, which he said would be used as part of the investigation.
"We just want some piece of [her] to keep as a reminder. At least we got her Louis Vuitton bag which she loved so much. I will put that in the coffin and cremate it with her," said her sister.
"This is the most horrible nightmare."
"I wish it was just a really bad dream, but it’s a reality that we have to live with for whatever life we have left."
"I don’t know when or if we can ever get over this sorrow."
