Woman downs rat poison outside Finance Ministry

A 59-year-old woman has swallowed a bottle of rat poison in front of the Finance Ministry, after failing to get 5,000-baht cash relief.

The woman, identified as Anyakarn Booprasert, 59, was rushed to nearby Phramongkutklao Hospital, where she is recovering, on Monday afternoon.

Thanakorn Wangboon­kong­chana, secretary to the finance minister told media that after the suicide attempt, the ministry investigated her case and found that Ms Anyakarn, a resident of Bangkok's Wattana district, was unemployed and eligible for the aid measure.

He said the money will be transferred into her bank account today.

Eyewitnesses said that Ms Anyakorn had arrived outside the ministry in a state of distress yesterday morning where she began to make a scene and shout: "There's nobody to take care of me!"

The woman went to claim that she had been unable to register for the 5,000-baht assistance on the website before pulling out a pill bottle and swallowing the contents.

Sirichai Tamboon, 39, the cashier at a noodle shop nearby, said that he had seen the woman behaving erratically before downing the pellets and collapsing, so he hurried over.

Aided by motorcycle tax driver, Mr Sirichai rolled her into the recovery position and called an ambulance for help.

The government introduced a relief package in early April to mitigate against some of the economic impacts that fighting the Covid-19 pandemic has caused. Among these measures was a monthly stipend of 5,000 baht for low-income earners who have been made jobless by the outbreak.