Sompien's family overwhelmed by Royal Family's compassion
Songkhla - The Eksomya family expressed their gratitude to HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn for presiding over the cremation rites yesterday of Yala's Bannang Sata police chief Sompien Eksomya and praising the late officer for being a true warrior.
On behalf of Their Majesties the King and Queen, the Crown Prince presided over Sompien's cremation rites at Wat Khlong Play, which was crowded by police, Army and state officials as well as the general public.
Sompien's wife, Pimchana Puvapongpitak quoted the Crown Prince as saying that Her Majesty was concerned about the Eksomya family and had praised the late officer for being a true warrior who served the country.
"It's overwhelming for our family to learn that what my husband had done was so great that even the Royal Family is praising his good deeds. In front of the coffin, the Crown Prince said 'Superintendent Pien is a true warrior' - I keep hearing these words and they have settled deep in my heart," Pimchana said as her eyes brimmed with tears.
Sompien's third son said the Eksomya family was overcome by the compassion with which the Crown Prince read out his father's story, praising him for the work he had done as a cop, and told the family that they could contact the Royal Household Bureau if they needed any assistance.
"I'll follow my dad's footsteps," he said tearfully.
Yala's Mayor Pongsak Yingchoncharoen said everybody in the provincial public and private sectors were saddened by Sompien's death because most of them knew the late officer very well and believed he had made a true sacrifice for the country. He said provincial agencies and the Southern Border Province Administration Centre had raised funds to print 5,000 copies of a book listing Sompien's heroic deeds to distribute among those attending the royal-sponsored cremation yesterday.
The book was initially published in 2008, when both the Boonyachinda Foundation and the Police Association honoured Sompien as the year's model policeman.
Sompien, who had spent 40 years working in the deep South, was recognised for his good relations with the community and made headlines when he personally visited Government House to ask for a transfer. On February 23, Sompien and his wife also went to the Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok to file a complaint against the injustice in police transfers. He had claimed that the insurgents had put a price of 50 goats, equivalent to Bt200,000, on his head. However, his cry for help was ignored and he died last Friday after being ambushed by insurgents in Yala.
In related news, the body of border patrolling officer Pol Corporal Nares Kaewsrikham, recently killed in a bomb attack in Songkhla's Thepa district, was sent by plane to his hometown in Lampang's Hang Chat district yesterday afternoon.
