Sugar daddies duped by pretended pregnancies

UBON RATCHATHANI: Attractive women having relationships with much older and considerably less attractive men for financial benefit is certainly nothing new.

In Isarn, however, some girls have allegedly started using an ingenious method to extract more money from their stingy sugar daddies: having their stomachs injected with chemicals to make them appear pregnant.

Pukki, a 20-year-old college student from Ubon Ratchathani, said some students were using this method to get extra money from businessmen or government officers they have relationships with.

Usually the sugar daddies would give them pocket money of only 300 to 500 baht a month, which is hardly enough for a modern girl these days, she said.

Friends studying in Maha Sarakham province, one of the main student centers of the northeast, had told her that certain clinics would inject chemicals into girls’ stomachs that would make them swell up as if they were pregnant, Pukki said.

This method worked especially well with men who were well known in society, particularly high-ranking officials. When the girls say they are pregnant, almost all of the men are happy to give them as much money as they need for an illegal abortion, she said.

Most of the men want the problem to disappear out of fear that their wives will find out and because of the future costs of having to support an illegitimate child, Pukki explained.

Another Ubon Rachathani college student, 21-year-old “Em”, said that while she had heard of many cases of girls claiming they were pregnant to extort money from their sugar daddies, she had yet to hear of anyone using chemicals to inflate their stomachs.

Em explained that girls’ sponsors would often give excuses and use delaying tactics when the girls asked for money to buy essentials, such as motorbikes, cars and brand-name fashion accessories.

Falsely claiming pregnancy is the surest way to get what you want and students have learned the sure-fire method from TV soap operas, she added.

Dr Wutikrai Mungmai, a doctor with Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Health Department, said that he had not as yet come across the practice of faking pregnancies through stomach injections.

He had, however, heard of a number of clinics offering abortions. These would be cracked down on very soon, he said.