Daddy, come home!

Nujarin

"Whenever I see a plane flying over my house, I tell my younger sisters that our dad is coming to fetch us," says Masami Hayashi who is living in Nakhon Ratchasima.

The eight-year-old boy and his sisters lost contact with their Japanese father last May.

Keigo, the nine-year-old from Phichit, waited much longer to hear from his father. After years spent showing every Japanese tourist he saw a photo of his dad, Keigo finally tracked him down thanks to the media's help. They talked on the phone on Friday and his father promised to visit soon.

"After hearing about Keigo, I miss my dad even more," Nobuhiro Nakyai (Sakamoto) says.

Media hunts

Born on July 2, 1998 in Japan, Nobuhiro is now at a boarding school in Thailand's Kanchaburi. "I wish I could get in touch with Dad - I want him to know about my life here," Nobuhiro says.

Nujarin Tsuchiya, 13, says Keigo's case inspired her to contact the media in an effort to find her Japanese father.

"He married Mum in 1993 but they got divorced and I've never got a chance to see him," says Nujarin, who lives with her maternal grandparents in Chiang Rai.

Good at studies

"She's very good at her studies but it would be great if her dad could help keep her in education," says her grandmother, Rampin Tannee, who takes odd jobs to support the family.

Saifon Peungpinij, 45, is mystified that her Japanese husband Mikio Shimoto hasn't even phoned her these past four years.

 "Our son, Shota, needs support from his father. He loves and waits for his dad," Saifon says of Shota, 15, who is autistic.

She urges the authorities to help her son and other Thai-Japanese children like Keigo.