Chieb Wattanajit, an 86-year-old father of seven, has been accused of detaining his 39-year-old daughter on a manmade island, isolated from the world by a thorny fence and a three-meter-wide waterway.
Chieb originally detained his daughter, Anong Wattanajit, on the island after his meager means prevented him from providing her with proper medical care for a mental illness. At present, Anong lives in a small house in the middle of a coconut jungle and survives on meals that Chieb throws to her across a canal.
Chieb told Thairath that Anong became mentally ill at the age of 17. Anong got married and moved to Songkhla but her marriage ended five months later. After the split, she moved back to stay with Chieb and her symptoms gradually began to show.
Chieb admitted that he did not treat his daughter properly but insisted that he could not afford better options. The village’s head once filed a report about Anong’s circumstances with the authorities but did not receive any response.
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