Authorities Shut Down Illegal Nursing Home in Nonthaburi
Authorities shut down an illegal nursing home in Nonthaburi that was housing 14 psychiatric patients without a license. The facility had been registered for only nine elderly‑care beds but actually operated eighty‑one beds, mixing elderly and mental‑health residents in violation of its permit. Officials ordered the closure, are transferring patients to appropriate care, and will investigate further violations.
Officials discovered that the unregistered facility, called Baan Serm Suk Nursing Home Limited, was operating in Soi Rawee 22, Tambon Talat Khwan, Mueang District, Nonthaburi. The home had been registered for only nine beds but actually had eighty‑one beds, and it was also housing psychiatric patients alongside the elderly, contrary to its registration. After the initial inspection, investigators followed leads to a separate house in Soi Rattanathibet 7, House No. 38/100/1, Tambon Talat Khwan, where they found 14 female psychiatric patients being kept without any license. The caretaker said the house had never been registered as a service facility; it was merely used to separate female patients from the main nursing home.
Supachai Singhoh, director of the Health Service Support Office Region 4, said the house had not applied for any business registration, yet patients were being kept there specifically, which is not allowed. The main center, which had permission for nine beds for elderly care, had illegally expanded to eighty‑one beds, violating the terms of its permit. He ordered the facility to correct its operations and declared the separate house must be closed because it lacked proper authorization.
Dr. Worotm Chotipitysunnont, spokesperson for the Department of Mental Health, announced that a mental‑health team would assess all individuals at the center, record their backgrounds, and check their mental state. Those who can be contacted by family or relatives will be handed over to the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security for return home; the rest will be transferred to Sri Thanyah Hospital for continued care. The transfer of all patients is to begin today.
