Thai woman loses 3 vehicles to man met through online dating group
Suspect moves in with her one day after meeing online and disappears with vehicles worth 1.2 million baht
A Thai woman in Loei province lost two cars and one motorcycle, worth over 1.2 million baht, to a man who moved in with her after just one day of online conversation.
The 32 year old victim, Watchalaporn Butsaba, revealed in an interview with Channel 3 and ThaiRath that she met the suspect, 41 year old Thawatchai, through a dating page on Facebook.
After talking for just one day, he came to her home in the Nong Ya Plong sub-district of Wang Saphung district, Loei province, on September 19, claiming he loved her and wanted to live together. She believed him and allowed him to stay.
The victim’s older sister said that Thawatchai told her and other family members he planned to marry Watchalaporn and even prepared the area around the house for a wedding.
Watchalaporn continued that on October 10, Thawatchai borrowed her motorcycle, a blue Honda Wave 125, claiming he was taking it to a repair shop to change the tyres. Late that night, he called her to pick him up at the Wang Saphung Municipality Office, saying the bike was not yet repaired.
On October 12, he tricked her into travelling to Sakon Nakhon using her bronze-grey Toyota Revo pickup truck, claiming he needed to collect money from a debtor. Later, he said he would take the vehicle to change its tyres. He again called her to pick him up at a petrol station, saying the truck was still under repair.
On October 15, the man borrowed another pickup truck, a white Isuzu, saying he would drive it to withdraw money in the city centre of Loei. That night, Thawatchai disappeared and blocked all contact with Watchalaporn.
In total, the victim lost three vehicles worth more than 1.2 million baht. When she reported the case to Nong Ya Plong Police Station, she discovered that the man had eight outstanding warrants for similar offences.
Watchalaporn later received a call from a car dealership in Bangkok asking about the sale of her white Isuzu pickup. She informed the dealership of the fraudulent incident, leading the staff to send her a video of Thawatchai during the car sale, which she handed to police as evidence.
In a similar incident, a Thai woman in Udon Thani province lost 30,000 baht while searching for a foreign husband online. She contacted a matchmaker and paid a fee, hoping to meet a British man, but the scammer disappeared and blocked her after receiving the money.
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