Woman Dies at Bank While Waiting to Renew Welfare Benefits

A 65-year-old woman from Muban Saked Klang village in Pua district, Nan province, died after traveling down from Doi Saked to verify her identity and scan her face for state welfare benefits at the Agricultural Bank of Thailand branch in Pua on July 20. She collapsed while waiting in line in the afternoon and despite emergency responders' efforts to revive her, she died around 4:30 a.m. the following day. Her sister expressed the family's distress, saying the incident should never have occurred since the woman had already received her welfare card in a previous registration but was required to make the difficult journey down from the highland area to reconfirm her status.

The case has sparked broader concerns in the community. Neighbors report that many other residents who previously received welfare benefits have recently had them revoked—some simply because they had outstanding loans with the agricultural bank taken out to build homes, farm, or send children to school, while others lost benefits because their names appeared on vehicle registrations for old, deteriorated cars no longer in use. Residents from Doi Saked, most of whom own no private vehicles and must hire shared taxis at costs of 200 to 1,000 baht per trip to reach town, say they willingly bear these expenses to maintain their 300-baht monthly welfare benefit, which is essential to their livelihood.

Many residents are awaiting clarity on the welfare appeals process and are urging the government to expedite benefit restoration for eligible applicants and reform the system to better reflect the realities of life in remote areas, hoping to prevent further tragic losses.