The Foreign Affairs Ministry has countered a former embassy worker’s claim she was made blind during her employment and left without adequate assistance.
Kanchana Patarachoke, the ministry’s spokeswoman, responded on Saturday to claims by Rattanaporn Saeng-on, 45, employed as service staff by the Thai embassy in Paris from 2009–2012.
She was rescued by police from a busy traffic intersection on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road trying to get herself hit by a car on Friday.
Ms Rattanaporn said she lost the will to live after she was denied sufficient compensation after permanently losing her eyesight while working with the embassy.
Ms Kanchana said Ms Rattanaporn developed glaucoma, which is a hereditary illness, well before she joined the embassy as temporary staff. Many of her family members have also suffered from the condition.
In 2012, she resigned from the embassy job for health reasons.
In 2018, Ms Rattanaporn contacted the ministry and sought assistance for her illness. The ministry asked the Comptroller General’s Department (CGD) if it was possible to grant her request and the department approved a special financial package worth 196,549 baht.
However, she submitted a request for further financial assistance of 1 million baht which the ministry conveyed to the CGD.
In 2021, Ms Rattanaporn petitioned the ombudsman seeking action against the CGD for failing to offer her the extra assistance.
Last year, the ombudsman dropped the petition, citing a lack of documentary evidence. However, the agency advised the CGD to explore a way to ease Ms Rattanaporn’s grievances.
In March, the CGD announced it was unable to offer any additional assistance as Ms Rattanaporn was no longer employed by the state and had already received compensation. Ms Rattanaporn was also notified.
On Friday, after being rescued from the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road intersection, Ms Rattanaporn said she was desperate for compensation.
She said she worked as temporary staff under a Thai ambassador in Phnom Pehn in 2007, who was later reposted to Paris.
Before she followed the ambassador to work in Paris, she underwent a check-up which gave her a clean bill of health, except for slight short-sightedness and astigmatism. After a year in Paris, she found herself unable to cope with the cold weather which is believed to have contributed to her worsening eye condition.
She informed the ambassador about her illness, who arranged for her to see a local doctor. Due to the language barrier, she was not receiving proper treatment which lead to her permanent blindness, according to Ms Rattanaporn.
She also claimed the ambassador had her sign a document referring her for medical treatment back in Thailand. However, she later realised that what she signed was in fact a resignation letter. “The financial aid I got is nowhere close to what I’ve lost, which is my eyesight,” she said.