Police in Thailand discover newborn baby stuffed inside toilet tank

A little over a week ago, an abandoned newborn baby was discovered stuffed inside a toilet tank in Thailand. 

Key Takeaways:

• On the same day in Bangkok, Thailand, two abandoned newborns were discovered in different districts; one baby, a girl, survived after being stuffed into a toilet tank. The other, a boy, was found deceased in a garbage bin.

• The baby girl found in the toilet tank, half-submerged in water, was taken to a nearby hospital and was listed in critical condition; doctors have since pronounced the baby to be unharmed.

• Authorities are hoping to quickly identify the mothers of both infants.

The Details:

On November 15, an unidentified cleaner was working on the third floor of an office building in the Lat Krabang district of Bangkok, Thailand, when the cleaner heard a baby crying, The Bangkok Post reported.

The cleaner eventually found the infant inside a restroom, stuffed into a toilet tank that was half-filled with water. The baby girl, who is believed to have been placed inside the tank shortly after birth, was naked and the skin of her hands had shriveled from being left in the water for hours.

The baby was reportedly taken to Bangkok’s Sirindhorn Hospital and was at first listed in “critical” condition. Since then, doctors have confirmed that the the baby girl weighed in at six pounds and was unharmed.

Mother not yet identified

In remarks cited by The Metro, Police Captain Kritsada Saikhong said, “The baby girl was under a day old. She was a newborn, but there was no sign of the mother.” He added, “We will proceed with the investigation to find who left the baby girl in the toilet. Officers are checking CCTV cameras to establish who was in the building and who used the bathroom.”

Under Section 306 of the Thai Penal Code, the abandonment of a baby carries a penalty of up to three years in jail, a fine of up to 6,000 baht (just over $185 USD), or both.

As of the time of reporting, the search for the baby’s mother continues.

What We're Hearing:

According to the report in the Bangkok Post, at about the same time in the Lak Si district of Bangkok, another abandoned newborn was found; this baby, however, was found deceased in a trash bin.

The report states, "Officers examined the bin near an apartment building and found a plastic bag containing a male baby still with an umbilical cord and afterbirth, discarded with a medicine bag and sanitary pad. The discovery was made by a trash collector, who noticed a cloth inside the bag, prompting further inspection and revealing the body."

Authorities are also searching for the person who abandoned this infant.

The Bottom Line:

Strikingly, these heartrending incidents emphasize the significant need for supporting mothers who experience unplanned pregnancies. In the United States, every state has a Safe Haven law, allowing parents to safely surrender infants to hospital staff and first responders within a certain time frame after birth. Parents are not prosecuted when leaving infants in the care of authorities.

Globally, pro-life organizations continue urging communities to offer comprehensive resources—medical, emotional, and practical—to ensure mothers never feel alienated or coerced into decisions like abortion or abandoning their children. By cooperating together to safeguard both mothers and their children, pro-lifers can hopefully deter similar tragedies from happening.

These incidents serve as a sobering reminder of why pro-life, pro-mother efforts matter.