Since January 3 this year, the Hesseldahl family has been held in Thailand in what has become a vacation nightmare for the Danish family of three. Their misfortunes began when the 15 year-old Kristian Hesseldahl was involved in a jetski collision outside the popular tourist beach in Cha Am – an accident which cost a 23 year-old Chinese man his life. The Danish family was held pending the investigation, and the Chinese family initially demanded 500,000 DKK in compensation for the death of their only son.
This week, a Thai court of law issued a verdict which demanded that the Danish family had to pay 300,000 DKK in compensation to the Chinese family. The amount was paid soon after, which means that the Danish family is now free to leave Thailand, according to the Danish TV-station TV2 News.
In Denmark, the case has won the attention of the media mainly because the Danish family’s insurance company, Lærerstandens Brandforsikring, has refused to help the family pay the compensation.
