Broke, homeless, stranded in Pattaya, couple gets lift home to Kanchanaburi

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Rayong cooks Panya Pamornwong and Nipa Srinuan, put out of work by Covid-19, found themselves stranded at a PTT station with no way home.

Two Rayong cooks stranded, broke and homeless at a Pattaya gas station are on their way home thanks to the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation.

Panya Pamornwong, 54, and Nipa Srinuan, 62, were living at the PTT station on Sukhumvit Road at Soi Chaiyapruek for about five days when they were interviewed by Pattaya mayoral advisor Passakorn U-Somboon and his team July 24.



Two duo had been assistant cooks at a restaurant in Rayong until it closed due to the coronavirus crisis. They had tried to return to their native Kanchanaburi via train only to arrive at the Pattaya station to find all service canceled and Chonburi locked down. All interprovincial bus service also has been suspended.


With nowhere to go and no money to live on, they dumped their bags and other possessions at the PTT gas station, where they lived on meal boxes and bottled water donated by motorists and the staff of the PTT convenience store.

The couple, assistant cooks at a restaurant in Rayong closed due to the coronavirus crisis, had tried to return to Kanchanaburi by train only to find all service canceled and Chonburi locked down.

Word of the couple’s plight got back to Pattaya City Hall, and Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome ordered his team to find a way for the two to get home.

Passakorn gave them more food and water, pillows and mat to sleep on as the two refused to go to a homeless shelter in Naklua.

He then reached out to Sawang Boriboon, which arranged private transportation back to Kanchanaburi after city hall issued them travel documents allowing them to leave the province.

They lived on meal boxes and bottled water donated by motorists and the staff of the PTT convenience store.



Pattaya mayoral advisor Passakorn U-Somboon (handing over an envelope) and his team gave them more food and water, pillows and a sleeping mat.



Eventually, word of the couple’s plight got back to Pattaya City Hall, and Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome’s team reached out to Sawang Boriboon, which arranged private transportation back to Kanchanaburi.