A teenage girl who feels left out every time Father's Day comes around is searching for her Japanese dad, who abandoned her and her mother 15 years ago.
Chatiyamol Nakajima, 15, is a Grade 10 student at Satree Thung Song School and has asked the government complaints centre in Nakhon Si Thammarat and the media for help in her search for her father, Koichi Nakajima.
Her father had married Kusuma Tidsri, who is now 40, and abandoned her just three months into her pregnancy, she said. Her mother returned home to the province to give birth. Chatiyamol now lives with her 75-year-old grandmother Nanglamai Tidsri.
Grandma Nanglamai told reporters her daughter had gone to Bangkok to find work and ended up marrying a Japanese man who was 45 years old at the time.
"They lived together for a short time until a problem occurred, causing my daughter to come back home immediately and never contact him again. I learned that he had tried finding her but was unsuccessful," Ms Nanglamai said.
Chatiyamol said she often tried getting more information about her father from her mother, only to be told very little.
"Shortly after her business collapsed, she was diagnosed with depression and left home to live in a temple somewhere in Bangkok, which has made my quest to find my father even harder," Chatiyamol said.
"As far as I know he is a frequent flyer because of his work and is currently around 60 years-old," the grandmother added.
"I have been diagnosed with cancer. I just fear that when I die no one will be around to take care of my granddaughter.
"It would be wonderful if they could reunite, so she will never feel like an outcast again when Father's Day comes around," she said.
Deputy provincial governor Sakol Chuntaruk said officials were trying find Chatiyamol's father through various channels and they been in contact with the Foreign Ministry and the Japanese embassy seeking further assistance.
