Dagger drama: Thai woman stabs herself, spins murder tale to evade debt payments

A Thai woman stabbed herself in the stomach and fabricated an attempted murder scenario in an attempt to escape her debt repayments in the Isaan province of Buriram.

Srinapa Srisopha, a 63 year old retired teacher, hurried 38 year old Wassana Srisanga to Satuek Hospital after she sustained a stab wound to the stomach. Srinapa clarified that Wassana had been one of her former students and had held her in high regard, akin to a mother figure. Hence, Wassana sought her out for assistance following the stabbing incident.

According to what Wassana told Srinapa, two attackers assaulted and tried to kill her. They parked their motorcycle in front of her home in the Satuek district in Buriram. One of them strangled her, while the other stabbed her in the stomach. She said she was unable to identify the attackers because they covered their faces with balaclavas.

Officers from Satuek Police Station questioned Wassana in hospital after her condition improved. Wassana told the officers the same story, prompting them to check CCTV cameras at the scene and nearby.

However, officers could not find any suspicious people that Wassana reported. They questioned Wassana again until she admitted that she made up the whole story to solve her financial problems.

“I’m stressed because of some informal debt. I cannot pay it back. I decided to buy a knife and stabbed myself. I made up about the attackers. I wanted the officers to think that the attackers were the loan sharks and to protect me from the violent debt collection.”

Police forgiveness

According to the law, Wassana should face imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to 10,000 baht, or both for reporting false information to the police. Fortunately, officers forgave her action and did not press charges.

A similar case was reported in October last year when a Thai woman reported a fake theft to police in the eastern province of Tak to escape 48,000 baht in debt. The woman said the thieves stole the money she prepared for debt repayment, but police were unable to identify the thieves and eventually uncovered the fake scenario.

Another Thai woman made up a kidnapping story in December last year to get money from her husband and relatives to pay off debts. The husband was able to spot the lie because the woman had faked a kidnapping twice before.