Disabled Elderly Man Walks 10km for Aid Payment, Bank Has No Record
A 73-year-old disabled man walked 10km to a Kasikornbank branch after his subdistrict office told him his disability aid awaited there, but bank staff found no record of his account or funds.
A heartbreaking incident has drawn attention after a 73-year-old disabled man walked more than 10 kilometres to a bank to withdraw government disability assistance, only to discover that bank staff could find no record of his account.
On September 2, Somchai Vongpoonsuok, superintendent of Kaeng Police Station, received a report from a conscientious teenager who found the elderly man outside Kasikornbank's Kaeng branch. The man explained that his subdistrict office had instructed him to collect his disability allowance there. Eager to receive the funds, he had set out on foot from Hang Yuan village, Huai Yang subdistrict, Kaeng district—a distance of roughly 10 kilometres—from early morning, arriving at the bank in the afternoon.
The disabled man said he had struggled to walk the entire way and asked the teenager for help entering the bank so staff could verify his name. However, when bank officials searched their records, they found no account or banking history in his name at all.
The elderly man insisted that the subdistrict office had told him he had over one million baht in disability aid waiting at the bank. With no money on him—not even a single baht for transport—he had no choice but to make the painful walk on foot. Now, however, he left with nothing.
The teenager subsequently reported the matter to Kaeng Police. Officers contacted the village headman, who confirmed the man was indeed a resident. Kaeng Police then drove the elderly man back to Hang Yuan village, providing him with food and drinking water before ensuring he returned to his home.
