A Thai man recently incurred the wrath of his friends and relatives after faking his own death on Facebook and having his wife ask them for financial contributions for his burial.
Tachawit J.’s Facebook friends thought him to be in good health, so they were left in shock on Sunday, when his wife posted a series of photos of his dead body – complete with cotton balls in his nostrils – on his account, with the caption “Last photo before deactivating his Facebook, love you!”. Tachawit’s most concerned friends and colleagues left comments asking what had happened to him, to which his wife replied that he had died of cancer and asthma – a truly killer combo – after suffering for a long time.
Some of the man’s acquaintances wrote that they had no idea he was so sick, which his wife explained by saying that he had “pretended he was ok all along”. As new of Tachawit J.’s tragic and unexpected death spread among his family and friends, they started phoning in and offering their support. But the man’s wife didn’t just sit around waiting to be contacted, instead, she took the initiative, calling everyone who knew Tachawit and asking for money to cover burial costs.
The unnamed spouse of “the deceased” even called his mother to deliver the heartbreaking news and ask her for financial assistance. The grieving woman quickly raised THB20,000 ($600) and sent it to her son’s “widow” the next day so she could pay for a casket and transport his body to his hometown. The mother also contacted the local temple to schedule the funeral and make all the necessary arrangements.
“His wife called me and said he was dead,” Tachawit’s mother recently told reporters. “She said she didn’t have money to prepare the body, so I sent her money on that same day.”
The next day, Tachawit’s body was supposed to be delivered at his mother’s house so his relatives could pay their last respects, but it never showed up. As the time of the funeral drew nearer, one of Tachawit’s cousins decided to call his wife and ask about the delay. To his surprise, his supposedly dead cousin picked up the phone but hung up as soon as he realized who was on the other end.
The conman’s family had to cancel the funeral service and reportedly lost THB60,000 ($1,800) in unrecoverable costs. His mother admitted that she has cut all ties with his deceitful son and his wife, but said that she wouldn’t hold his actions against him.
Tachawit J.’s con made national news headlines this week and prompted several of his colleagues and acquaintances to come forward and confirm his long history of lying and greed. Warit M., a long-time co-worker of Tachawit, told the media that he once stole another colleague’s wallet after learning that he planned to donate a substantial sum of money to a temple that day.
Both Tachawit and his wife have gone silent on Facebook after their despicable con was exposed, but their friends and family continue to voice their outrage on social media.
“You bastard, we regret going to school with you. We are hurt by this. Don’t ever let me see you again. This wreath is for you. Go to hell,” one of the conman’s former schoolmates commented on his Facebook page.
Although no complaints have been made with the police at this time, Thai celebrity lawyer Gerdphol Geawgerd told reporters that Tachawit J. and his wife risk fines of up to THB160,000 ($4,800) and/or up to 10 years in prison.
To be fair, Tachawit isn’t the first person to con their friends and family, but putting your own mother through this kind of ordeal for a few bucks? That’s ice cold!
Interestingly enough, Tachawit didn’t delete any of the compromising photos from his Facebook account, and even appears to regret his actions, replacing his wife’s original caption with a short and seemingly honest one – “Sorry for being so crappy”.
