Police found the body of Ananya "Lee" Meunsuwan, a second-grader at Wat Phya Yang School, at Teuk Chai intersection in Phya Thai district at 6pm. She had suffered fatal head injuries.

Her parents, Bualoy and Umaporn Meunsuwan, were standing beside her crying.

The truck driver, Chom Hanphum, 30, who waited for police at the scene, said he was taking construction workers to the Sri Yan area when he felt the rear wheels run over something. He pulled up and saw Lee underneath the truck. Police charged Chom with reckless driving causing death.

Witnesses from the neighbourhood said Lee was forced to sell flowers to pay for her schooling and get money for her parents who did not want to work.

Ramathibodi Hospital's Forensic Medicine and Corpse Examination Unit yesterday handed over Lee's body to her parents who then took her to a funeral ceremony at Wat Khae Nang Lerng.

Relatives said Bualoy had forced Lee to sell flowers every evening until 8pm and on weekends since she was seven. She was supposed to meet a sales target or she would face a beating. Bualoy was often seen assaulting Lee at the intersection in front of others because she had asked for a break to play with other children or do homework, they said.

Social Development and Human Security Ministry permanent secretary Wallop Ploytaptim said the ministry heard about Lee two years ago and had taken her into state custody. But her parents asked for her to be returned home so they could send her to school.

Wallop said the ministry had given money to 120 families at a community near Yommarat railway line to start their own businesses but about 20 families, including Lee's, still put the lives of their children in danger by making them sell flowers and garlands at intersections. They believed children were able to sell more because people felt sorry for them.

The ministry warned the families in April last year and put them on probation, he said. Now it was considering separating the children so they could attend school and provide the parents with vocational training as a long-term solution.

Wallop said he would consult city police and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to apply the Child Protection Act to punish parents who endanger their children by forcing them to sell things at intersections. The parents could be fined up to Bt30,000 or jailed for three months. Motorists who buy from children at intersections could also be punished.