Thai social media influencer lied to flog football game tickets

Social media influencer Pimradaporn Benjawattanapat, known as Pimrypie, has come under the spotlight after she advertised tickets for a game between Liverpool and Manchester United. She was offering benefits like dinner with the football players, which never existed, on her live stream.

She allegedly had 20,000 tickets with her for “The Match Bangkok Century Cup 2022,” which will be held next month at Rajamangala National Stadium in the Ramkhampaeng neighborhood on July 12. She was offering the tickets for 4,000–5,000 baht, less than the original prices.

The tickets were planned to be sold internationally, according to the event’s organiser, Fresh Air Festival, to promote Thailand as a travel destination for football enthusiasts. They weren’t made accessible by Thai ticket companies like Thai Ticket Major. Football supporters who had already paid full price for the tickets were furious and blamed Pimmypie for her dodgy ticket offers.

It’s not just angry football supporters though, Thai internet users were outraged by her announcement and used social media to voice their opinions on how she acquired so many tickets since they were never planned to be sold in Thailand in the first place.

Both Manchester United and Liverpool, two Premier League powerhouses, have spoken out against the illegal resale of tickets for the upcoming friendly game. Both teams claim that the tickets never came with the special benefits that Pimrypie has said they included. The Premier League football clubs stepped out to address Pimrypie’s statements once they were promoted.

“We have not approved this sale, nor do we condone the contents of the sale. It is misleading. Although the tickets to the match are genuine, there will not be a dinner where a winner of a competition will meet our first-team players.”

She further added that she had tickets for a dinner with a Korean celebrity as well as for the rehearsal of Jackson Wang of GOT7. Representatives of Jackson Wang have spoken out on Twitter, stating that “there are no such tickets”

After the football clubs cleared the air, Pimrypie hopes that the matter would now be resolved. Police are leaving open the option to lay charges on the influencer if it is found she has wilfully deceived potential ticket buyers.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post