Director of Mongkut Wattana Hospital, Dr Rienthong Nanna, has admitted that he slapped the face of a 14-year-old boy, ordered him stripped naked and left the hospital, after the boy was caught smoking in the hospital’s toilet.
In his Facebook post today, Dr Rienthong, who is known for his extreme right-wing political views, said that his punishment of the boy was intended to teach him a lesson for violating the hospital’s strict no-smoking regulations.
He explained that smoke from the cigarette will enter the air-conditioning system and spread all over the place, including to where patients are waiting to see doctors.
He claimed that, in the past, there were two fires caused by burning cigarette butts left by someone in the hospital, adding that the boy had violated the rights of the hospital and its patients by smoking in the toilet.
The doctor admitted that what he did to the boy was wrong, but refused to apologise.
Meanwhile, the boy’s mother admitted that her son was wrong for smoking in the hospital, but could not accept the punishment inflicted on her son by Dr. Rienthong.
She disclosed that her boy cried because he felt very embarrassed by being stripped naked in the crowded hospital. She also said that she would pay the 5,000 baht fine imposed by the hospital for the violation of the hospital’s regulations. The teen was visiting his partner who just delivered a baby in the hospital when the incident happened..
The mother has filed a complaint with the police against Dr Rienthong.
