SUKHOTHAI — 26 May 2026, An 81-year-old retired court official in Sukhothai has spent 1 million baht buying a house — not for herself, but for four stray cats who had made it their home.
Kanokvann Panwichian, a former director of the Phitsanulok Provincial Court office, said the cats had originally wandered into her home years ago. The stray mother cat eventually gave birth, growing the group to 12. She took them all in, feeding, vaccinating, and spaying each one.
Four of the cats — Namtan and her three kittens, Nong Klang, Nong Lek, and Nong Namtansai — had a habit of sneaking into an old vacant wooden house at the end of her alley. Kanokvann found herself visiting daily to feed them, and eventually felt guilty about her cats using someone else’s property.
So she bought it.
The house cost 1 million baht. She put down 500,000 baht and paid the rest in monthly instalments of 25,000 baht over 20 months — nearly her entire pension, leaving her just 4,000 baht a month to live on.
“It was a difficult 20 months,” she said. “But once it was paid off, I felt at peace.”
The house now belongs to the cats. Kanokvann visits regularly to sleep and spend time with them. Her other home remains with her children.
