An entire hotel employee residence in Pattaya was awakened early on Friday by the cries of an infant found to have been abandoned on the premises.
Pattaya police and rescue workers were called to the three-storey building in tambon Nong Prue in Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri province around 7.50am on Friday following reports of an infant being left alone. Residents of the building reported hearing disturbing cries in the early hours.
A search party formed by tenants said they were shocked to find a baby boy in a second-floor hallway.
Rescuers have since revealed the child had likely only been born three to four hours prior to being discovered. The infant was found still covered in afterbirth with its umbilical cord not yet severed, lying upon a fertiliser bag and wrapped in a green shirt.
Residents of the building said they did not know of any of their neighbours being pregnant. Police quickly sent the child for care at Pattaya Hospital, noting he was only wrapped in a shirt. An unnamed 56-year-old tenant, who was the first to find the baby, said she began hearing loud cries around 7am and was startled by the sound, as no one in the building was known to have children.
Authorities initially believed the child’s parents did not live in the complex but will review surveillance footage to identify whoever abandoned him and take legal action.