Officials Find Chained Psychiatric Patients at Nonthaburi Facility
Health officials inspected the Samsuk House facility in Nonthaburi after discovering its licence did not match its intended purpose and that it held over 81 psychiatric patients. Patients reported being detained, chained, and allegedly abused, with some signaling SOS from windows and showing visible bruises. Police were present to observe the inspection and regulate traffic.
On October 9, 2026, the Region 4 Health Service Support Department inspected the Samsuk House elder care centre in Soi Wevadi, Nonthaburi, after finding its operating licence did not correspond to its declared aim of caring for the elderly and that it housed over 81 psychiatric patients. While waiting for officials to enter, patients began displaying SOS hand signals from windows, seeking help. A patient who had been there for one month said his parents sent him for treatment due to mood swings; he claimed he was locked and chained on his first day but had not yet been physically harmed. He added that he took his own psychiatric medication, not supplied by the facility. Another patient on the second floor said he had lived at Samsuk House since 2023 and wanted journalists to contact his parents in Ang Thong province. He claimed he was chained, suffered from diabetes, and received no medication during episodes, while also alleging he had been beaten, leaving visible bruises. He said staff of about five or six told him not to speak with reporters, and other patients shouted from other rooms that everyone was being abused. The windows were then closed abruptly. Observers noted bruises on the patient who spoke with reporters. Police from Mueang Nonthaburi Police Station arrived to monitor the scene and manage traffic.
