Police Investigate Psychiatric Care Center in Kanchanaburi Over Abuse
Police from the Central Investigation Bureau’s Crime Suppression Division inspected an elderly and psychiatric care centre in Kanchanaburi after allegations of abuse and confinement. The facility, which houses 92 patients including many with severe psychiatric conditions, uses steel‑barred rooms for the most disturbed inmates. Officers are gathering evidence, including CCTV footage and witness statements, to determine whether any further action is warranted.
Officers entered the centre and found the director providing background information: she graduated from an air force nursing program, had worked in a state hospital, then left to work at a private hospital in Kanchanaburi. Around 2006 she opened an elderly‑care centre; in 2021 she changed its registration to a home for the elderly and dependent persons (psychiatric and rehabilitation), and has continued to operate it to the present day, renewing the licence each year, most recently on 3 August 2026, which she showed to the police. The centre currently has 19 caregivers — three men and 16 women — caring for a total of 92 patients. Of these, 75 are male patients: 68 with psychiatric conditions, five elderly and two undergoing rehabilitation. The 17 female patients consist of 13 psychiatric cases, three elderly and one in rehabilitation. During the inspection, officials observed that the accommodation is divided by gender and condition, with single air‑conditioned rooms, shared air‑conditioned rooms and single fan‑cooled rooms allocated according to patients’ symptoms and categories. The director explained that patients with severe psychiatric disorders must stay in rooms fitted with steel‑barred beds and cages because they tend to destroy property, harm themselves or others and wander about, so the reinforced enclosures are necessary for safety. Police are still gathering further information from the centre’s owner, collecting evidence such as CCTV footage from the premises and witness statements, before deciding on any further action.
