BANGKOK – Authorities are probing a doctor from a private clinic in Bo Win, Chon Buri, after a father alleged staff poured hot water on his three-and-a-half-year-old son, leaving him with third-degree burns.
The father, a Lao migrant worker, said he took his son to the clinic on Wednesday for a high fever. After an injection, the child went into shock. The doctor then told staff to place a cloth on the boy’s chest and pour warm water over him, followed by hot water two more times, which caused blistering. The child screamed in pain.
The doctor reportedly claimed the technique was meant to revive the boy from shock. Medical experts say this is not a correct or accepted treatment.
The father rushed his son to Rayong Hospital. Doctors admitted the child to intensive care and said he might not have survived if there had been a further delay.
The clinic has denied wrongdoing. A senior staff member allegedly referred to having relatives who work as prosecutors and in public health.
A clinic assistant said the method used on the boy was the same as electrical stimulation.
As the story spread online, the doctor’s wife called the father and offered to take care of the child, saying she had miscommunicated because she does not speak Lao. She reportedly insisted the clinic could clean wounds better than hospitals.
Patient Complaints Over Clinic
After the incident became public, former patients came forward with accounts of the doctor’s conduct, including:
- Using vulgar language and swearing at patients
- Refusing to treat factory workers
- Getting angry when asked if the medicine would cure them
- Refusing examinations, telling patients to “go check somewhere else, I can’t be bothered.”
Some also claimed the doctor challenged them to fights and boasted of connections to influential people.
The Be One Foundation accompanied the family to meet officials from the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and the Rights and Liberties Protection Department on Wednesday.
Provincial welfare officials will coordinate the boy’s hospital care and assess his mental health. The Rights and Liberties Protection Department will help with compensation claims.
Authorities confirmed the doctor has a valid medical licence and the clinic is properly registered.
The Chon Buri Provincial Public Health Office has ordered the clinic to close temporarily while the investigation is carried out. The case will be sent to the Medical Council of Thailand for an ethics review.
