Swede deal gone wrong: Man loses 300k baht to ‘married’ scammer

A Swedish man is seeking justice after losing over 300,000 baht to a Thai woman who promised to marry him. He later discovered she was already married, and her husband, a soldier, threatened to harm him.

The 42 year old Swedish victim, Ahmet, reached out to non-profit organisation Saimai Survive after officers from Si Samrong Police Station in the northern province of Sukhothai refused to accept his complaint. Ahmet later attended a press conference with the organisation to share the details of the incident today, September 5.

Ahmet explained that he met the Thai woman on a dating application on June 14 and had been in an online relationship since then. The woman expressed her desire to marry him at the end of July and asked him to gradually transfer money to her to prepare for their wedding.

The Swedish man transferred approximately 359,000 baht to the woman and booked a flight to Thailand at the end of August for what he believed would be his dream wedding.

Upon his arrival in Thailand, Ahmet rushed to Sukhothai province, where his girlfriend lived and where the wedding was supposed to take place.

The foreigner arrived in Sukhothai on August 25, and the Thai woman booked a resort for him. Ahmet realised he was scammed after he lost contact with the woman for two days.

Local rescuers came to Ahmet’s aid, helping him get in touch with the woman. The woman scheduled the wedding for 9am on August 29. However, she deceived him again by saying that the wedding could not proceed because the community leader was busy.

Social media exposure

The woman explained that her family would hold only a small ceremony, where she and Ahmet would pay their respects to her mother, who would be the sole witness to their commitment. The Swedish man had no choice but to accept the arrangement.

The rescue team attended the ceremony and shared photos on social media, but the woman later requested that these be removed. Unfortunately, the photos were not taken down in time, and her actual husband, a soldier, contacted the rescue team. He warned them that he intended to pursue legal action against Ahmet for adultery.

Ahmet was stunned and confused, but by then, he was certain he had been deceived. He asked the rescue team to take him to Si Samrong Police Station to file a complaint against the woman.

The scammer’s husband followed Ahmet to the police station and verbally abused him with vulgarities. He shoved Ahmet in the chest and threatened further violence.

Despite the escalating confrontation at the police station, officers refused to accept Ahmet’s complaint. Frustrated, Ahmet sought assistance from Saimai Survive.

Saimai Survive has promised to support Ahmet, but the organisation did not reveal its next steps during the press conference.