A blind German pensioner reportedly carried on living in his house, unaware his Thai wife had taken her own life inside.

Jurgen Wolfgang Walter Sadler, 79, from Neulingen, spent hours waiting for his spouse Nisara Bunchuay, 53, to answer his calls on Tuesday evening.

The Thai woman, who works as a taxi driver in Bangkok, had returned to the rented home in Chachoengsao, eastern Thailand, earlier that morning, complaining about stress from work before falling silent.

When she failed to respond to him, the disabled retiree sought help from his neighbours to look for her.

Yingjer Saejao, 48, a friend of the couple, turned on the house lights but was horrified to discover a lifeless Nisara hanging from the staircase railing.

Police arrived at the scene after being alerted at 6:30 pm local time. They found Nisara slumped against the railing with blood flowing from her nose and mouth.

Police Lieutenant Nawatpakorn Kunatchayasiri of the Chachoengsao City Police Station said: 'Rescuers collected the body for a post-mortem examination at Buddhasothorn Hospital to confirm the cause of her death.'

Yingjer said: 'They had been renting the house for more than a year. Nisara works as a taxi driver in Bangkok and is usually gone for two to three days at a time.

'She makes sandwiches and leaves them in the fridge for her husband to eat. If she is gone for a long time, I would check in on him and cook for him.'

Another neighbour, Pichsinee Singpea, 54, who speaks German, said Jurgen had decided to settle in Thailand after losing his eyesight in a car accident.

She added: 'This morning, Nisara went home and said she'd been in an accident. The other driver was demanding 40,000 baht, but she couldn't give the money. She returned to the house to arrange negotiations but was later found dead.'

Locals believe the financial pressure of being a sole breadwinner had driven Nisara to allegedly take her own life.

Police said investigations into her death are ongoing.