S$5,000 to Thai girl for goodwill, not compensation: SMRT
Transport operator SMRT has clarified that the S$5,000 offered to the 15-year-old Thai girl who fell onto the tracks at Ang Mo Kio station was a gesture of goodwill and not compensation as said by her father.
The girl, Nitcharee Peneakchanasak, lost both her legs when she fell onto the tracks in April this year.
According to Nitcharee's father, Kittanesh Peneakchanasak claimed that the initial S$5,000 offered by SMRT was a compensation sum in late May.
However, SMRT said that the S$5,000 was a gesture of goodwill and not compensation. SMRT added that the gesture was made known to Nitcharee's father through the Thai Embassy.
According to Channel NewsAsia, SMRT revealed that another S$10,000 was offered to the victim's family as 'initial financial support' to travel to Singapore when Nitcharee was in hospital.
Kittanesh is currently suing SMRT of S$3.4 million to pay for Nitcharee's prosthetic legs. The large sum is said to be equivalent to the price of 20 pairs of prosthetic legs that Nitcharee will need in her lifetime.
