Bullying reverb, fake love, eviction notice, draft joggers

FB hacker shares the love

The youngster accused of bullying a school girl about her skin colour has herself been harassed over the saga, though insists her Facebook was hacked and she had nothing to do with the attack.

A Chachoengsao teen, known as "A", visited Technology Crime Suppression Division police last week to clear the air after the saga involving Kenika "Neuy" Siri, 14, a Matthayom 2 student from Sa Kaew, bullied for her skin colour as she sold goods online, hit the headlines.

Neuy was visibly in tears as she read comments from netizen bullies who asked why she was selling whitening soap and cream via Facebook Live when her own skin was toned. "How can you sell whitening products when you look so dark?" the critics teased.

Neuy said she was inclined to brush off the comments until one online bully also went as far as criticising her parents, who sell goods in fresh and flea markets.

She consulted her parents, who decided to lay a complaint about the online harassment. Neuy's mother Nittaya Peunbaht notified Sa Kaew regional police. After news of her plight reached the media, the parents of Chachoengsao teen A, 13, contacted Ms Nittaya.

While initial reports suggested A's family contacted Ms Nittaya to make amends after the teen's Facebook account was implicated in the bullying, the saga has since taken a new twist. A's family insists she did not leave the bullying remarks and that her FB account had been hacked.

Accompanied by her custodian, elder sister Saisunee Thongsamprit, 30, A on Thursday visited the TCSD to protest her innocence. On Monday they also alerted Khao Hin Sorn police in Chachoengsao, after earlier failing to make a first meeting with Neuy's mother arranged by police.

"My sister opened the account three years ago but since the hacking attack has been unable to retrieve it. She asked me to report it so people know we are not to blame. We have also alerted Neuy that we did not leave the messages," Ms Saisunee said.

Her younger sister A had suffered from the negative publicity, with kids at school assuming she was the culprit and teasing her over it.

"A has been practically unable to study because she herself has been bullied, even though she is innocent. I would like to warn netizens before attacking people online that they should check their facts," Ms Saisunee said.

A, meanwhile, said she did not know Neuy and had nothing against her. Her family told her about the bullying saga. The TCSD said it would liaise with police in Sa Kaew and Chachoengsao as they hunt down the hacker.

Dowry con victim laments

A Phichit man is nursing bruised feelings after a former sweetheart from the same village conned him out of savings they had planned to put towards their marriage.

Thawatchai Laksana, 29, went to police in Thabklo municipality after realising the woman he loved, known in the media as Timm, 38, had taken the money he had saved for their wedding and his dowry payment and spent it on starting a business.

The pair started going steady last November and agreed to save for five years before getting married.

Every month he would transfer to her bank account a portion of his pay which she was to save for the big day. Mr Thawatchai, who was working for a power company in the provinces, sent her money 15 times, until the balance reached 58,500 baht.

However, he fell on hard times in February after losing his job. When he asked Timm for 1,500 baht of his savings to tide him over, she refused, and would not say if she still had the rest of his money. "That's when I realised I had been tricked," he said.

A heartbroken Thawatchai said he found out later Timm had spent the money opening her own shop. "She never said she loved me, or so she claimed, and never thought of marrying me either," he lamented.

Police called in both sides for talks. Timm, who seems to have escaped police charges, agreed to pay him back 38,000 baht by monthly instalment. However, she was not obliged to repay the rest, as police decreed he had given that money out of love, when he urged her to buy a watch and gold.

Thawatchai said he was heartened when locals offered him moral support, but is still feeling the pain of jilted love.

"Why does it have to be me? Why do I have to meet someone like this? I just wanted to have some fun with her. When will the misery end? I would be happy with even that. Thanks to the locals for supporting me...after this is over I will enter the monkhood," he wrote plaintively on Facebook.

Kan gets appeal itch

Rocker Sek Loso's ex-wife is appealing against her suspended jail term after losing a defamation case to one of Sek's ex-lovers, model Apisaya "Eve" Pattanaworasap.

The Criminal Court in Min Buri on July 15 sentenced Wiphakorn "Kan" Sukpimai to five years in prison, suspended for two years, and fined her 200,000 baht, after she attacked Eve on Facebook in December two years ago. The sentence, the first delivered in the handful of cases which Eve has launched against the outspoken Kan, could set a benchmark for future rulings.

Kan, however, says she plans to appeal, and has spurned an offer by Eve's lawyer to settle the four cases with a 7 million baht damages payment.

"While I respect the court's decision, I think it is too stiff a penalty. The other party sued on seven counts, and the court upheld five. Sek came to lend moral support. I had intended withdrawing 100,000 baht, but he suggested making it 200,000 baht, and as it happens I was fined that amount," she said.

Eve is also suing Sek's second wife, actress Paphada "Sandwich" Chotikawanitch, after Kan and Sandwich, once firm allies but who have since fallen out, ganged up to force Eve from Sek's home last August, broadcasting the eviction on Facebook live. The pair, called to court on July 20 to give evidence, deny the charges.

Kan initially declared that she and Sandwich would live together with Sek, helping the ailing rocker revive his sagging career after a bout with bipolar disorder.

However, Sandwich later moved out with her young son, Leon, after Kan openly challenged her to get Leon's DNA tested. She disputes whether Sek is the real father and said Sek could end up poor from having to help support the pair.

Critics say Kan picked fights with the rocker's ex-loves as she manoeuvred herself back into pole position as the main caregiver in Sek's life.

Sandwich last week said the paternity question is a matter between herself and Sek, who had never raised doubts about being the father, and had signed the child's birth certificate. "Who is she to make such demands?" she retorted.

The actress said she had been responsible for Leon since his birth. Sek supported him at first but she no longer asks for help and they have been out of touch for months. However, he can still visit whenever he wants, she said.

Eve's lawyer, Athiphat Phattaramongkolchai, said the court on July 15 asked the two sides to drop their legal action. Lawyers for the other side, he said, had since been in touch asking if he could help find a way out.

He proposed a damages settlement of 7 million baht, which Eve only reluctantly endorsed, as she wanted to fight the case to the end. "Eve just wants the pair to take responsibility," he said. However, Kan had since ruled out paying damages. The dispute continues.

Jogging converts all

Four young men have made good on a votive offering to the spirits to run a 21km journey barefoot if they escaped the military conscription draw.

Phetchaburi youngsters Watcharapon Sinkongyuu, 22, Thannapol Promchuea 21, Anucha Mitrdee, 21, and Witthaya Thonggnern 22, made the public pledge before a local deity last Tuesday before taking part in a draw for the military draft at Cha-am temple.

They pledged to run bare-footed and with their shirts off all the way home -- a 21km journey -- if the gods let them off the conscription hook.

The gods did as they were asked and ensured all four young men, when their names were called, pulled a black card from the lottery bin, which exempts them from service. A red card, which few youngsters want to draw, would have obliged them to serve for up to two years.

The friends, delighted at their good fortune, decided they had better deliver on their promise and run home from the temple. TV cameras filmed them jogging along Phetkasem Road's southern leg that night, past four intersections, four traffic light-controlled crossings, a series of local neighbourhoods, before finally ending up at Nong Kang community. Clutching water bottles and their shirts, they ran in a close huddle, with few showing any enthusiasm for streaking ahead.

They stopped along the way for plenty of breaks, when one lad took the chance to sit on the ground and nurse his sore feet. A convoy of about 10 of their mates followed behind them on motorcycles to ensure they did not meet with any mishaps.

The young men, shy types, grinned broadly but didn't have much to say when asked by a reporter about their pledge. Netizens praised them for appeasing the spirits as promised, but asked whether the military draft was really so bad. "Why are you so scared of conscription?" they asked. "These days being a conscripted soldier pays pretty well."