Tan Rui Hun, a 29-year-old Malaysian businessman from Kelantan, came to Bangkok together with his wife and mother-in-law for a four-day three-night holiday.
They were supposed to return today on a 10.10am flight, but instead Tan and his mother-in-law, 52-year-old Tan Kim Siok, find themselves at the Hua Chiew general hospital.
They were among 126 people injured in a bomb blast at 7pm yesterday in Chitlom, Ratchaprasong, a central Bangkok retail and commercial area that is also famous for the Erawan shrine, worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists.
Rui Hun's wife Teo Khaei Ling, 27, a sales executive in Kelantan, said at that time they were praying at the four faces Buddha statue at the Ratchaprasong intersection after completing their shopping.
The four faces Buddha is located near the famous Erawan Shrine.
"It was to be our last prayer there before going back to Malaysia," she told Bernama .
She said she was the first to pray at the shrine while Tan was looking after their belongings.
"When I went to pray, I suddenly heard the sound of an explosion. It was very loud, and I then just threw away my things to search for my mother," she said.
"I searched for my mother first, and instead found my husband. He asked me where my mother was, but I really didn’t know. So we searched for my mother, and when finally I saw her, my mother stood in the dancing area at the four faces Buddha."
Teo said her mother had a minor injury on her forehead.
"Once the bomb exploded, I turned back and saw a fire, all the dead bodies, bodies without fingers, and I saw a girl without here shirt because it was destroyed. I saw all these when I was searching for my mother," she added.
"We all found each other in about five minutes after the explosion. Many people were lying down, just my husband and I were standing there," she said, adding that they all ran to the hotel nearby after that.
"We were just blank and rushed to escape from the place," she explained.
Teo said when she first saw her husband, he did look seriously injured, only small pieces of objects and glasses on his body.
"It's so lucky that we are together, and my husband's condition is
considered as a minor injury compared with the other more serious ones that I saw in the first hospital (police general hospital)."
Need help from Thai government
She said her husband was admitted at the police general hospital as it was the nearest hospital from Ratchaprasong intersection, but was later transferred to Hua Chiew general hospital as too many people were sent to the police general hospital and they were in very serious condition.
She does not know how long her husband will be hospitalised in Bangkok, but she said that she would like the Thai government to help them for their plane tickets to return home, as well as hotel expense as she had already paid for her hotel till Thursday only while her husband may need to stay longer due to his injury.
Meanwhile, Tan Kim Siok, appeared to be still in shock and
was sad.
Although her injury was small, she still kept her daughter company at the hospital.
Teo's Thai cousin, Natthanan Tan, 40, also visited the family after
she heard about the bomb explosion last night, and has been in contact with her husband to look into whether their cousins were among the victims.
She told Bernama that she was very sad and sorry for what happened to her family members as well as sorry for other Thais and tourists.
"I came here this morning after I confirmed that my cousin was admitted here. I assisted them to communicate with the locals and the hospital," she said.
"It should have not happened as they are innocent people," she said.
She cried when talking about the incident, thus cutting short the
interview.
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Ratchata Ratchatanawin told the injured Tan and his wife Teo that the Thai government regretted what happened to them and other victims, included an injured Singaporean receiving treatment in the same room.
Malaysia's ambassador to Thailand Nazirah Hussain also visited Tan and spent some time talking to the couple and exchanged contact numbers.
Nazirah also asked whether if they required assistance from the
embassy.
The casualties in the bomb blast were 20 killed including four Malaysians and another 126 injured including three Malaysians.
- Bernama
