Missing 85-Year-Old Found Dead in Chao Phraya River After Three Days
An 85-year-old woman missing for three days was found dead in the Chao Phraya River near Ayutthaya, entangled in water hyacinth plants with no signs of injury.
At 3:30 p.m. on July 20, 2026, police from Bang Thai Station in Ayutthaya, hospital medical staff, and officers from the Thai Gratitude Foundation examined a female body that had been deceased for approximately three days, floating among water hyacinth plants. The body was believed to be that of Pratin, or "Grandma Thaen," age 85.
After discovering the body, officials coordinated with village headwoman Phonphat Chamnaisinn and relatives of the deceased to confirm her identity through the clothes she wore on the day of the incident. A preliminary examination found 360 baht in cash on the body and no signs of injury or assault.
Port Authority officials revealed that while conducting water hyacinth removal operations near an old sand pit, boat crew members noticed flies swarming around vegetation and investigated, discovering the deceased woman's body face-down entangled in the plants about 30 kilometers downstream from where she fell. The crew immediately alerted police and rescue units.
Police and a medical examiner initially examined the body before sending it for a detailed autopsy to determine the cause of death through forensic procedures. The body will later be released to relatives for funeral rites according to tradition.
