Thai woman’s fake robbery covers ex-marital money matters

A Thai woman faked a robbery to hide from her new husband that she was previously married and was still sending money to her ex-husband and their child.

The 30 year old woman, Walisa, filed a theft complaint at Pak Chong Police Station at 11.30pm yesterday, March 31. She reported that a thief stole 2,200 from her, the amount she had just requested from her workplace, a BBQ restaurant in the province.

Walisa explained that she was returning from work on a motorbike along a road parallel to the Friendship Highway when the theft occurred. She said the thief asked her to stop her motorcycle near the Mueang Pak Chong Municipal Office and forced her to hand over all the money.

Police officer Sayan Chantapanya reported that Walisa appeared suspicious and provided conflicting information to the police. As a result, officers decided to contact her employer for questioning. It was discovered that Walisa had not reported to work on that day and had not requested an advance on her salary.

Under pressure from the police, Walisa finally confessed that she made up the theft complaint because she did not want her new husband to know that she had married before and was still sending money to her ex-husband and her child.

Walisa confessed that she hid the truth from her new husband out of concern for potential conflict between him and her ex-partner. Additionally, she explained that she sent money to her ex-partner to support her child.

Aside from being caught by her new husband, Walisa also faces charges with two offences including:

• Section 172 of the Criminal Law: filing a false complaint with a police officer. The penalty is imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both.
• Section 173 of the Criminal Law: giving the information of the offence to the inquiry official. The penalty is imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to 60,000 baht.

A similar incident was reported in April of last year when a Thai woman filed a theft complaint to Bang Phli Police Station in Samut Prakarn province, saying she lost 102,000 baht. She later confessed that she stole money from her husband to give to her family and decided to fake the robbery to cover up the theft.