Udon Thani woman loses car and 80000-baht amulet to online date
A Thai woman lodged a police complaint after a man she met online stole her car and a valuable Buddha amulet worth more than 80,000 baht following an in-person meeting at a resort in Udon Thani province.
The 50 year old victim, identified only as Bee, filed a complaint at Mueang Udon Thani Police Station yesterday, February 9. She accused a 42 year old man named Pu of stealing her property after they stayed together at a resort in the Sam Phrao sub-district of Mueang district.
According to Bee, she met Pu through Facebook and had been chatting with him for around two months before agreeing to meet in person.
Pu claimed that he worked in Chanthaburi province and owned a durian plantation. He told Bee that he planned to travel to Sakon Nakhon province to sell durians and suggested meeting her in Udon Thani, as it was close to her home.
Bee said that during the online communication, Pu showed no signs of being a scammer or behaving suspiciously. She therefore agreed to meet him on Friday, February 6. The pair checked into a resort together and spent several days travelling around the province.
Bee stated that Pu persuaded her to cover most of the expenses during the trip, claiming that he had not yet received his salary. On Sunday, February 8, Pu told her that his salary had already been transferred into his bank account and that he would repay her.
He then asked to borrow her car, saying he was going out to buy beer and withdraw cash. Bee remained at the resort while Pu drove off. She said Pu later called her to ask whether she preferred beer or whisky and requested her bank account number, promising to transfer 10,000 baht to repay part of the expenses.
However, Bee said no money was ever transferred. Pu failed to return to the resort and stopped responding to her calls. She later realised that he disappeared with her car as well as a Buddha amulet valued at approximately 80,000 baht. The amulet was set in a gold frame and embedded with diamonds.
Later that day, police located Bee’s car abandoned at a shopping mall car park in Udon Thani province. Pu was not found at the scene, and the amulet was missing.
Bee told Channel 7 that she felt relieved to have her car returned and said she would treat the incident as a life lesson. She also urged Pu not to repeat such behaviour or take advantage of other people’s trust and feelings.
Police are now gathering further evidence to issue an arrest warrant for Pu and have expanded the investigation to track down the missing amulet.
Latest Thailand News
Follow The Thaiger on Google News:
