Thailand orders elderly care center with caged beds shut

KANCHANABURI — 7 October 2026, Thailand’s Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) has ordered the closure of an elderly care center in Kanchanaburi where metal cages were found covering patients’ beds, officials said.

Speaking on the TV program Hone Krasae, Dr Akom Praditsuwan, deputy director-general of the DHSS, said authorities had begun removing residents from the center and arranging appropriate care for them.

Residents whose families want to take them home will be allowed to return to their families, while those who need continued care will be transferred to other facilities that meet required standards. Residents who have nowhere to go will be taken into the care of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

Dr Akom said several agencies had coordinated the response following an inspection of the center on 6 October, including an assistant minister for social development and human security, the deputy governor of Kanchanaburi, the provincial police chief, the Kanchanaburi Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office, the Provincial Public Health Office, the Department of Mental Health and Somdet Phra Sangkharat Hospital 19.

He said the agencies had already coordinated assistance for the residents and that the case required urgent action. The DHSS director-general had also personally inspected the facility.

The center came under scrutiny after complaints aired on Hone Krasae alleged that residents were kept in rooms fitted with metal fencing and that some beds were enclosed by metal cages. Authorities subsequently inspected the facility and began reviewing whether its operations complied with licensing and health-care regulations.

During the announcement that the center had been ordered to close, “Mae Phat,” a woman who said her children had sent her to the facility and who later left and spoke publicly about her experience on Hone Krasae, broke down in tears and raised her hands in a wai in apparent relief and happiness.