Desperate father vanishes with son after falling for 100,000 baht job scam in Isaan

A man in the Isaan province of Burriram disappeared with his three-year-old son after the family fell victim to a 100,000 baht overseas job scam.

The man’s wife, 34 year old Wassana yesterday filed a complaint at None Suwan Police Station after her 35 year old husband Autthapon, and their three year old child, Arkon, vanished into thin air.

Wassana and her husband recently returned to Thailand from working in Taiwan. On the couple’s return, they saw a new job opportunity in Canada.

The couple showed interest in the job opportunity but later found out that the job offer was fraudulent after paying 50,000 baht each for the application process.

The financial loss and stress affected Autthapon, leading to heavy drinking and erratic behaviour. He also falsely accused Wassana of having an affair with someone she met on social media, but she denied the claim.

Yesterday, the three of them went to None Suwan Police Station to report the scam. While the officer was questioning her, Autthapon took his son to the car and drove out of the police station. The pair of them have not been seen since.

Police reported that they found Autthapon’s mobile phone on a roadside in the Soeng Sang district in the Isaan province of Nakhon Ratchasima which was the border of Nakhon Ratchasima and Buriram.

The distance between the police station and where the phone was found was about 12.7 kilometres, a 20-minute drive.

Officers in the two provinces are working together and setting up checkpoints to find Autthapon’s grey sedan car with a registration plate กธ-1366 in the hope of tracking the father and son pair.

Last year, a group of 50 Thai women were swindled out of thousands by a fraudulent job agency that promised attractive job positions abroad but delivered something else upon arrival. They were forced to do other jobs like sex work or gambling jobs and had their passports confiscated.

The Minister of Labour has warned residents to beware of the oversea job scam, especially job advertisements on social media which usually drew the attention of job seekers with a very high income.