Laksi district officials threatened an elderly woman yesterday with fines or jail time if she does not stop feeding the large flock of pigeons at her house.
Seventy-year-old Dueanchai Pengpreecha is widely known as "Aunty Pigeon" among residents in the area, where she has been feeding the pigeons for decades.
Officials said Ms Dueanchai ignored neighbours' complaints about the mess the pigeons caused and the risk of disease.
After a neighbour made an official complaint, a team, led by Laksi district chief Khajeerat Jaynakhom flocked to the site to clean up the bird droppings and left-over food surrounding the two-story terrace house on Kosum Ruamjai Road.
They also disinfected the area.
The number of visiting pigeons to the area soared dramatically in the past few years and forced Ms Dueanchai to increase the amount of feed she provided, and scatter it on both the ground and upper levels of her house, she said.
Ms Khajeerat said she told Ms Dueanchai to stop feeding the birds because she was in violation of public health and cleanliness laws that prohibit people from feeding animals in public places in a way that troubles neighbours.
Despite her longstanding resistance to neighbour's complaints, Ms Dueanchai has agreed to cease and desist after signing a written promise to the district chief to do so.
The fine, if she continues, may be up to 25,000 baht, or a jail term of no more than three months.
She said she loved animals and fed dogs and pigeons at her house for decades, and did not know that she was breaking the law.
