Father slammed for letting 10-month-old baby play with steering wheel en route
The father of a 10-month-old toddler was slammed for posting a video in which he let his daughter stand on his lap and play with steering wheel while he was driving home in Nakhon Nayok, a province northeast of Bangkok.
The video, which has drawn heavy criticism on Thai social media, shows the baby girl, named “Focus,” putting her tiny hands on the steering wheel instead of staying secured in her car seat.
Her father, Teerapat Duangdennakthong, 29, has been called a “moron” and a “murderer” by netizens after posting a video that he thought was light-hearted, although it clearly shows that he was controlling the steering wheel with one hand.
“She was sitting on my lap. I didn’t force her. She just stood up and touched the steering wheel. People insulted me on Facebook. Some people call us a moron or even a murderer,” he told Amarin TV.
Teerapat, who works as a car mechanic, admitted to being reckless, but added that he usually puts his daughter in a car seat.
The original video has been removed, but a copy has been reposted on YouTube and Facebook. Throughout the footage, the father made light of the driving baby by decorating the video with texts such as “What are you looking at? I’m learning to drive” and “I’m totally crashing into anyone who’s in my way.”
On Facebook, the story is still being shared widely. Most users make a point of saying that he could have killed innocent people on the road. The others heavily criticized his parenting.
