The widening scandal surrounding unlicensed and abusive elder care facilities expanded into Nonthaburi Province after a former resident, “Uncle A,” revealed on Hone Krasae that prior to his transfer to Kanchanaburi, he was allegedly kept in leg shackles 24 hours a day at a separate facility in Nonthaburi and forced to urinate into plastic bottles.
On the afternoon of October 8, 2026, Phonthep Lomprom, Director of the Health Service Establishment Division of the Department of Health Service Support (HSS), alongside Suphachai Singho, Director of Health Service Support Center 4, and local police inspected the three-story facility located in Soi Rewadee 22, Mueang Nonthaburi.
Inspectors found 81 male residents and patients packed onto roughly 15 beds per hall, arranged foot-to-foot behind locked doors to prevent escapes. While no physical chains were detected during the walkthrough, official records revealed the venue was licensed to care for only nine elderly persons—not medical patients—and operated without specialized psychiatric or nursing staff. While journalists waited outside, several residents cried out from upper-floor windows, alleging they had been locked in rooms, chained to beds following escape attempts, and subjected to days of food deprivation, adding that chains had been hastily removed prior to the inspection.
Meanwhile, “Pa Maew,” the operator of the revoked Kanchanaburi care center, addressed the findings that her facility housed 129 beds despite being authorized for only 50, and utilized over 4,300 square meters instead of the approved 1,600. Denying intentional unlawful detention in Mae Phat’s case, she maintained that she acted upon the family’s formal request, contacted the son three times to take his mother home, and hoped that structural and regulatory adjustments might allow her to reopen someday.
In addition, the medical transport driver who conveyed Mae Phat to Kanchanaburi pushed back against brutality accusations, claiming the team used physical restraints only because the patient exhibited severe agitation throughout the journey, adding that the son was fully present as a witness.
