A Home for the Mentally Ill in Pattani
16 images Created 1 Nov 2012
The Bukit Kong home opened 27 years ago as a Pondo School, or traditional Islamic school, in the Mayo district of Pattani. Shortly after it opened, people asked the headmaster to look after individuals with mental illness.
The headmaster took them in and soon the school was a home for the mentally ill. Thailand has limited mental health facilities and most are in Bangkok, more than 1,100 kilometers (650 miles) away. The home filled a huge need in the community.
The founder died suddenly in 2006 and now his widow, Nuriah Jeteh, struggles to keep the home open.
Facilities are crude by western standards but the people who live here have nowhere else to go. Some were brought here by family, others dropped off by the military or police. The home relies on donations and gets no official government support, although soldiers occasionally drop off food.
There are only six patients, three of whom are kept chained in their rooms. Jeteh says she relies on traditional Muslim prayers, holy water and herbal medicines to treat the residents. Western style drugs are not available to the residents.
The headmaster took them in and soon the school was a home for the mentally ill. Thailand has limited mental health facilities and most are in Bangkok, more than 1,100 kilometers (650 miles) away. The home filled a huge need in the community.
The founder died suddenly in 2006 and now his widow, Nuriah Jeteh, struggles to keep the home open.
Facilities are crude by western standards but the people who live here have nowhere else to go. Some were brought here by family, others dropped off by the military or police. The home relies on donations and gets no official government support, although soldiers occasionally drop off food.
There are only six patients, three of whom are kept chained in their rooms. Jeteh says she relies on traditional Muslim prayers, holy water and herbal medicines to treat the residents. Western style drugs are not available to the residents.
