Help urged to repair house of 91-year-old Buri Ram man

The Nation was informed by residents that the man was living alone in a shanty made of old and rusty corrugated iron sheeting.
The man, whose name was withheld, is 91 years old according to his identification card.
The Nation checked the house and found it in disrepair with one old bed and a mosquito net. The man’s only belongings consisted of an old rice cooker he used to prepare rice and eggs.
The walls of the house were partially rusted, allowing mud to seep in during the rain.

Mud had also made the toilet unserviceable, forcing the elderly man to ask his neighbours to use their facilities, and leaving a bad odor.
The dirt floor in the hut was also wet, putting the man at risk of electrocution
Village headman Suphan Kidngam said the man did not have any children or close relatives, and the shanty was built on the property of a distant relative.
The man has been living alone for years on an elderly allowance of Bt1,800 a month, with neighbours sometimes giving him food.
Suphan said he had been drawing monthly allowances for the old man, who had recently suffered from a stomachache.