Police Calm Distressed Woman on Bridge After Welfare Benefits Cut
Police in Nonthaburi talked down a 70-year-old woman who had become distressed after losing her state welfare benefits and had written angry messages on a bridge railing. The woman attempted to climb over the railing but was restrained by officers, who then calmed her, bought her food, and contacted her sister to take her home. She said the welfare payments stopped because authorities claimed she owned a vehicle, a car her daughter had purchased in her name years earlier and had already paid off.
The incident occurred at 5 p.m. on October 5, 2026, when officers Khunwachap Tianbucha and Atibet Laowongkhon of the Rattanathibet Police Station were patrolling near the Phra Nang Klao Bridge. They found the elderly woman standing on the rail, holding two sheets of paper that read, “I am unhappy about losing my state welfare card because officials are taking the money for themselves.” After the woman attempted to climb over the rail, the officers secured her and spent over thirty minutes talking her down. She agreed to go to the station, where they gave her food because she had not eaten, and then called her sister to pick her up. The woman said she had received welfare payments since she turned sixty, but the payments stopped in September and October after officials said she was listed as the owner of a vehicle—a car her daughter had bought in her name years ago and had already paid off. Her sister later arrived to take her home and promised to look after her closely.
