80 year old woman survives floating 3 kilometres down Nan River in Thailand

An 80 year old Thai woman fell into the Nan River in Pichit province, northern Thailand, and floated for 3 kilometres before she was rescued by a good Samaritan yesterday.

At 4pm, 61 year old Bancha Simadua, the owner of a paint shop, was fishing in the Nan River near Wat Ratchachang Kwan when he suddenly saw a naked body float past him, which he assumed was a corpse.

Bancha immediately called the police to the scene, jumped in his boat and drove out to the “corpse.” When he got closer, he saw the elderly lady’s eyes blink open. Shocked, he realised she was still alive and needed help.

He said there was a piece of wood supporting the woman’s back preventing her from drowning. He pulled her up onto his boat and brought her ashore and waited for the authorities to arrive.

Bancha later found out that the elderly lady’s name is Grandma Boonchuey, from the Paktang subdistrict in Phichit’s Mueang district. Grandma Boonchuey floated down the river for over 3 kilometres. She is now safe and has returned home.

Grandma couldn’t recall how she ended up in the river. Reporters travelled to her house to check up on her and found that she lives alone, her husband died many years ago. Reporters said she suffers from “forgetfulness.”

Neighbours said that Grandma Boonchuey probably went down to the Nan River to fetch water to water her plants. She doesn’t bathe in the river as neighbours pump water into a bath so Grandma can bathe at her house, they said.

If Bancha hadn’t spotted Grandma while he was out fishing and acted quickly to save her, Grandma Boonchuey would have most likely drowned without anyone seeing or knowing what happened to her.

In May last year, a 75 year old Thai lady survived floating 500 metres down a river in the eastern province of Chachoengsao. A man witnessed the incident and called a rescue team to save her.