Thai student left homeless after bank account used as mule by classmate
A Thai university student is seeking help after his Vietnamese friend tricked him into sharing his bank account number and used it as a mule account, leading to the account being frozen. He was unable to pay his dormitory rent and has been sleeping in a common area at the university.
The third-year student in Udon Thani, 22 year old Thongtae, reached out to news agencies after police officers paid little attention to his case. He insisted on his innocence, saying he was not involved in any scam operation and was unaware his account was being used for illegal activity.
Thongtae explained that he is originally from Phon Charoen district of Bueng Kan province. He had been living with his grandmother since his parents divorced.
He and his grandmother have long struggled to make ends meet. His grandmother earned only a few hundred baht per month from her government pension.
Thongtae said he received 3,000 baht per month from a student loan, which he spent on his dormitory rent. To cover daily expenses, he worked at a food stall near the university, earning 200 baht per day.
At this part-time job, he met a Vietnamese student who later asked for his bank account number. The Vietnamese student claimed he ran an online shop but could not receive payments from customers because he was unable to open a Thai bank account.
Thongtae said he was not close to this Vietnamese national and did not even know his name, but he wanted to help, so he gave him the account number. Soon after, 50,000 baht was transferred into the account. He withdrew the money and handed it to the Vietnamese student.
Unexpectedly, his bank account was suspended shortly afterwards. The bank informed him that his account had been used as a mule account in a scam operation. He then filed a complaint with the police.
According to Thongtae, officers blamed him for willingly allowing his account to be used and refused to speak to him properly, telling him only to wait.
With no access to his money, he was unable to pay his dormitory fees for two months, totalling around 4,400 baht. Feeling guilty, he moved out and promised to pay the outstanding amount once the account issue was resolved. He has since been sleeping in the common area of his faculty building.
The student said his grandmother knows about the situation but cannot help because she has only her elderly allowance. He also added that he does not want to blame the Vietnamese student, instead blaming himself for trusting others too easily.
As of now, police have not issued a statement on the matter, and the university has not stepped forward to support the victim.
Latest Thailand News
Follow The Thaiger on Google News:
