Thai women’s pursuit of love leads to legal battle against Facebook dating service scam

Seven Thai women seeking rich, high-profile foreign husbands reached out to a renowned Thai lawyer, Deacha Kittiwittayanan, after falling victim to a dating service scam on Facebook. A 43 year old woman named Or is representing the victims.

Or revealed that she is a single mother who had to take care of her child and her mother. She earns 55,000 baht a month working for a private company operating over 48,000 square metres of rubber plantations.

Or said she could not earn enough to cover all her expenses, so she decided to look for a wealthy foreign husband because she wanted to work abroad. She came across a dating service on Facebook called Online Matchmaker (แม่สื่อออนไลน์), which appeared trustworthy due to its followers of 100,000 users.

Or added that the page’s administrator, who called herself Coach P’Lek, presented herself as a specialist in procuring foreign husbands. She always streamed live videos where she talked to her followers and advised them on how to secure foreign partners.

Or disclosed that she had initiated contact with Coach P’Lek through Facebook Messenger and paid a membership fee of 7,000 baht. Coach P’Lek then created a profile with her personal information and requested her to select the packages she wanted.

The first package (30,000 baht) offers ordinary foreigners with standard incomes, the second package (50,000 baht) offers foreigners with specific professions such as engineers and doctors, and the third package (100,000 baht) offers rich and high-profile foreigners such as farm owners or businessmen.

Or said she chose the first package and waited for updates for about three to four months with no progress. Or decided to ask Coach P’Lek about her status, but Coach P’Lek refused to speak to her and later complained about her appearances on live streaming video.

According to Or, Coach P’Lek said Or did not match with any foreigners because she was ugly. Coach P’Lek then urged Or to act like her to attract the attention of foreigners.

Or went on to reveal that more women reached out to her and shared similar experiences. Each victim lost nearly 40,000 baht to Coach P’Lek, with some victims paying over 100,000 baht for the exclusive package. Or said that Coach P’Lek continues to operate her deceptive dating Facebook page and gaining more and more clients.

Channel 3 reported that they contacted Coach P’Lek for an interview about the matter, but Coach P’Lek refused to give any details. Coach P’Lek posted an update on Facebook yesterday.

“I will be streaming a video at 10am to thank over 100 clients who believe in me. Do not worry followers. Let’s leave the case to my legal representatives. The truth is always the truth.”

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