Thai man accuses wife of hiding 12 million baht lottery prize
A Thai man sought help from a well-known lawyer to file a lawsuit against his wife after he accused her of hiding a 12 million baht lottery prize from him. The woman insists she broke up with her husband several years before she scooped the windfall and remarried. He claims he had no idea about the breakup.
The 47 year old jilted man, named Narin, approached Narong Kaewphet on Saturday, March 11, to file a lawsuit against his wife. He revealed that he married his wife, 43 year old Chaweewan, 20 years ago in the Isaan province of Chaiyaphum and has three daughters with her.
Narin explained that the family had a debt of over 2 million baht so they decided to move to South Korea in 2014 so they could earn more money to pay back the debt.
Narin continued working in South Korea and transferred about 27,000 to 30,000 baht per month to his family after Chaweewan returned to Thailand to take care of their daughters.
The spurned man later learned from his daughters that Chaweewan scooped 12 million baht on the lottery but hid it from him. He tried to contact his wife but she ignored him. Narin decided to travel back to Thailand on March 3 to confront Chaweewan, only to find out that she had married her new lover, a police officer, on February 25. He said…
“I was shocked and did not know what to do. I am disappointed. I did not expect that my wife of 20 years would do this to me. I only had 60,000 baht left in my bank account because I gave money to her every month. I want to call out for justice and the money that I deserve.”
Narin acknowledged he did not sign an official marriage certificate with his wife. However, the lawyer, Ronnarong, insists that he has a right to the money even if they did not have an official marriage certificate. Relatives and other people knew about their relationship and that is enough to make it official.
Chaweewan, on the other hand, filed a complaint against Narin for defamation. She insists that she did not hide the prize from Narin. She stated that Narin made a phone call to break up with her several years ago and her neighbours knew about it. She also claimed that Narin never sent her that much money, only 3,000 to 4,000 baht to their daughters’ bank accounts.
The lawyer, Ronnarong, explained that even without an official marriage certificate, Narin has a right to the money if their relationship was clear and acknowledged by relatives and friends. Any assets that they earn during their relationship must be shared when they break up or divorce.
The case is now under investigation by police officers and related departments.
A similar case was reported last year. A Thai man in the Isaan province of Roi Et filed a complaint with the police saying his wife stole a winning lottery ticket worth 6 million baht and ran off with her lover. The wife eventually returned the money from the winning lotto to her husband but insisted on living separately and asked the man to move out within three days.
