A drug addict burned down his 86-year-old great-grandmother's house, leaving her, his mother and three girls homeless, and threatened to kill them.
The five women now live together in a shelter in Chaiyaphum. They earn a small income selling eggs from ducks they care for.
Nat Chokesiri, 58, said on Wednesday that she had been living with her 86-year-old mother, a 16-year-old niece and two granddaughters, aged 15 and 3 years, in a shelter with no clean water since Dec 3.
Last Friday, her drug-addled son had threatened their lives and torched their house.
"All we could save from the burning house were diapers for my 3-year-old granddaughter and a handful of other things," she said.
She said her son Prapat Phunkhunthod, 37, was arrested.
The family were too afraid to return to their destroyed home, because her son had threatened to kill them if he was released, Ms Nat said.
