Widow in Thailand struggles to pay S$1.34 electric bill, eats spoiled rice to survive
An 87-year-old widow in Thailand recently received an outpouring of support after it came to light that she needed help paying her 34 baht (S$1.34) electric bill.
The elderly lady, who lived alone, sometimes even resorted to eating spoiled rice to survive.
According to Channel 7, the woman from Loei province has lived alone for nearly 40 years since her husband passed away.
Story went viral after news coverage
Her story first went viral on TikTok, prompting a local news team to go investigate.
They discovered that the 87-year-old woman lives in a small, dilapidated home with hardly any furniture. Reporters discovered leftover food on trays swarmed by flies.
The woman possessed only an old sleeping bag, a fan, and two lights.
The team also observed that the home had poor ventilation, with strong odours lingering in the home.
Neighbours take turns caring for her
Ever since her husband died about 40 years ago, the widow has been living alone with only her neighbours to care for her. They would take turns making sure she was alright, but she would sometimes require extra attention.
Because she had no income, the village head would give her 100 baht (S$3.94) per day to live off of.
If she had any money left over, the village chief would refrain from giving her additional money the following day.
For food, she would often not mind eating spoiled leftovers. Despite her neighbours being willing to help, she would rather keep to herself so as not to be a burden to them.
However, she recently ran into an issue when she could not pay a 34 baht (S$1.34) electric bill.
Source: @yoyejaaa on TikTok
Fearing that her power would get cut, she hobbled over to the village head’s home on her cane to ask for help.
She then assisted her in paying the bill using her national ID to access an elderly allowance, but even then, she refused to accept a ride from him since she did not have the money to pay for it.
Since her story went viral, many netizens have offered to help the elderly woman with her daily necessities and bills.
Also read: Elderly hoarder lives alone in heavily cluttered Bedok Reservoir flat, showers at coffee shop
Elderly hoarder lives alone in heavily cluttered Bedok Reservoir flat, showers at coffee shop
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Featured image adapted from @yoyejaaa on TikTok and TikTok.
87-year-old widow in Thailand struggles to pay S$1.34 electric bill, eats spoiled rice to survive
