Romance scam: Dutchman files 4 million baht lawsuit against Thai ex-girlfriend
In another romance scam case, a Dutchman is trying to get 4 million baht from his former girlfriend, a woman from Sakhon Nakhon province in northeast Thailand, who he says deceived him into sending her millions for land and a house before abandoning him.
The Thai woman says it’s the Dutchman who is in the wrong for starting a relationship with her when he was already married to another woman.
Yesterday, 62 year old Peter from Holland, travelled to Udon Thani Provincial Court with well-known lawyer Kirssada “Nobi” Lohitdee to file a four million baht lawsuit against an unnamed Thai woman.
The Dutchman claims the woman deceived him into thinking the pair would have a future together, which he needed to cough up money for.
Blinded by love, Peter sold his house in Holland and sent the money to his Thai girlfriend. He says he sent her 5 million baht in total.
One day, she cut ties with Peter, changed jobs and moved provinces. The couple’s romance ended but Peter never got his money back, he claims.
One month ago, Peter posted a video on TikTok telling his story…
“My name is Peter. What I am about to tell all of you is a true story. I met a woman from Sakhon Nakhon (in Isaan) via Thai Cupid. We talked and later met in Udon Thani province, where she worked. She started to talk about our future. I bought her a gold necklace and planned our wedding.
“I didn’t have enough money to buy land and a house in Udon Thani so we agreed that I would sell my house in Holland. I sold it and sent the money to her, for our future.
“I couldn’t travel to Thailand from 2020 to 2021 because of the pandemic but I kept sending her money until I was broke. I had to borrow money from the bank and my family because she promised she would return the money.
“I tried everything for our house and land but I didn’t hear from her after that. She didn’t return the money, changed jobs, and moved to other provinces. I was shocked and had a huge problem with my family and the bank.”
The ex-girlfriend claims that Peter is exaggerating. She says he only sent her 300,000 – 400,000 baht, which she is willing to give back.
She says it was she who was deceived. She claims she left Peter when she found out he was already married to another Thai woman.
On February 4, lawyers helped Peter to file a fraud case – with bank slips and videos as evidence – at Ban Dung Police Station.
The alleged love scammer was summoned to acknowledge her charges on Valentine’s Day. But she didn’t show up. The police will summon her again on February 28.
As for the charges, the police have not confirmed exactly which charges were filed against the woman.
Lawyer Nobi said, “I want this case to be an example for Thai people not to act this way, especially with foreigners. It damages Thailand’s reputation.”
Peter said that he will not be falling for a romance scam again. He says he knows that not all Thai people are bad people, and he’s not sure whether he is willing to date a Thai again.
He said he will stay in Thailand until the end of the month and then fly back to Holland until there is another court case.
Thai police say there were over 400 romance scams reported in January.
