Mentally handicapped man found dead in Phuket Town well

PHUKET: A mother looking to transfer her 36-year-old mentally handicapped son to a mental hospital in Surat Thani yesterday arrived at his house in Phuket Town to discover his body at the bottom of a 15-meter-deep well.

Kusoldham Foundation workers told the Gazette that the man, Yodchawan Puttarakma, was to be taken to Suan Saranrom Hospital in Surat Thani yesterday at the request of his mother.

Mr Yodchawan’s mother used to live with him at his rented home in Pattana Soi 6, but a neighbor told the Gazette that she moved out earlier this week.

When she arrived at the house about 8am, it was locked. Worried about her son, she called the Kusoldham Foundation for help, asking the workers to break into the house.

The workers finally found Mr Yodchawan’s body at the bottom of the well behind the house, with his head submerged in the water.

Police believe he drowned as an initial examination of his body revealed no broken bones.

His mother told a Kusuldham worker that Yodchawan at times locked himself in the house alone with stray dogs and cats and refused to open the door, even for his parents.

— Atchaa Khamlo