Pregnancy scam bites; hammock attack; canine kill

Pitter, patter of tiny feet

A Nonthaburi man is warning netizens of a woman who hatched a pregnancy scam, duping him of 100,000 baht over a four-month relationship.

Natthapong (no surname given), 24, a driver for a private company, complained to police after the woman, identified as Mew, 22, in news reports, claimed she was pregnant with his child a month after they met.

They met on Facebook last November and the relationship developed quickly, he said.

"She showed me a pregnancy test after being in the bathroom for about 20 minutes. I was excited but also worried about how our parents would react," he said.

He invited Mew to move in with his family so he could take better care of her, though news reports say he initially kept her pregnancy a secret from his parents.

Keen to be a responsible partner and a good dad to his unborn child, Nattapong met all her needs, including food and transport to work, he said.

During this time, Mew began asking him for money periodically, claiming she had financial problems and needed to pay off debts. She also asked for money for "prenatal care".

He was happy to help and offered to take her to hospital for a check-up. But on the day of her appointment, Mew always had an excuse not to go.

Later, in February, valuables including cash, two mobile phones and an iPad started to go missing from Natthapong's home, but owing to his trust in her, he suspected nothing.

A turning point came last month, however, when she claimed to have gone to see a doctor and presented ultrasound images showing she was pregnant with a healthy baby girl.

His friends, however, were suspicious about her persistent refusal to attend prenatal check-ups and asked to inspect the ultrasound images.

They discovered the images, dating from 2019, actually belonged to someone else and were taken from the internet.

Mysteriously, Mew forged the date on the images but not the name of the hospital or even the name of the real owner, claiming the name was that of her doctor.

The hospital Mew claimed to have visited for the check-up did not match either.

Natthapong once again believed her until his friends sent him the original image of the actual owner for comparison.

Confronted with the facts, Mew initially refused to admit she had lied. Eventually, his mother learned about the situation and spoke to Mew.

She suggested they go to see a doctor together to confirm the test results. However, when they arrived at the hospital, Mew claimed she had taken medication to induce a miscarriage.

Later, Mew bowed before the growing evidence against her, agreeing to have a blood test at a nearby hospital, which revealed she had not been pregnant.

Natthapong, realising he had been conned, decided to leave her, and took her back to her home in Samut Prakan.

After they split, Mew's close friends revealed she had withdrawn cash from his account without his consent, and also sent him evidence suggesting she had stolen the missing valuables as well.

Mew, he said, had asked him to register for a gambling website and used his account to transfer money into it.

On March 29, he travelled to Mew's family home to discuss what happened. He was contacted by a creditor of hers who had lent her tens of thousands of baht about three years ago.

Mew invited Natthapong in to talk, but after their conversation, asked the creditor in. He claims the creditor assaulted him. Both Natthapong and the creditor have since filed complaints with police.

Natthapong contacted Parames Chaipatcharakulpong, founder of the "Dr Kaew Can Help" page and chairman of the advisory committee for prosecutors in Nonthaburi to help spread news of her exploits.

He said he loved Mew and dedicated everything to her, only to be betrayed. Now all he felt was resentment. "We are not focused on the money, but do not want others to fall into the same trap," he said.

Mew, he said, denies the allegations except for making up the pregnancy. He has filed a complaint with Min Buri police, who are investigating.

Just a friendly escort

A Chaiyaphum man beat a drinking friend to death after he took his wife, with whom he had just argued, to see her former lover.

Nong Bua Rawe police nabbed Prakob (no surname given), 55, after he grabbed a plank of wood and beat to death his friend, Noi (no surname given), 63, as he slept on a hammock outside his house.

Noi put up no resistance and in fact may not have known what happened.

Prakob, who admitted killing him, said he was seized by a fit of jealousy, but added nonchalantly: "If you strike a snake, you must break its back."

Yupin (no surname given), 43, said she argued with her husband before the incident. Fatefully, she went to Noi's place and asked him to take her to her ex-husband's place, where she often sought shelter after her rows with Prakob.

Prakob followed them, realised he had taken his wife to see her former lover (who was away at work at the time, as it happens), and decided to seek revenge.

When he encountered Noi, escort duty done, lying on a hammock outside his place, he grabbed a wooden plank and a bamboo stick from nearby and struck the victim repeatedly until he was dead.

Prakob said he had never had a problem with Noi before, and in fact the two used to drink together.

Yupin, his wife, was present at the time of the attack, and pleaded with him to stop.

However, rather than trying to thwart the attack herself she ran off to seek help from neighbours. By the time they arrived, Noi was already dead from half a dozen blows to the head.

Prakob rode his motorcycle back home about 1km away to await the arrival of police.

Despite the callous remark about wanting to break the snake's back, he expressed his apologies to the victim's relatives. Police charged him with premeditated murder.

Preparing to receive Noi's body for his funeral, Boonmee, 85, the victim's mother, said her son was fond of a drink but liked to help others.

Village pest destroys a life

An Udon Thani druggie fatally attacked a neighbour with a machete in a fight over the fate of his dog.

Clutching a bloodied machete, Apichai (no surname given), 36, walked into Nam Som police station to declare he had killed Uaychai (no surname given), 50, and wanted to turn himself in.

Apichai took them to the scene after police initially expressed doubts about whether he had really done as claimed. Officers found Uaychai's body lying on a public road in Ban Yuak subdistrict. He had been attacked with a machete.

The suspect said he encountered the victim on the road, approached him, and they started to argue.

Uaychai, he alleged, had shot his dog the week before, but the victim refused to admit it and challenged Apichai to a fight. In a fit of rage, Apichai grabbed his machete and struck the victim's neck twice. Uaychai's motorcycle was found nearby.

The village headman, a distant relative of the victim's, said Apichai mistakenly believed the victim had shot his dog dead with a gun. In fact, he used a slingshot, and the dog was still alive.

Apichai drank heavily and took drugs, leading to delusions, he said.

On the day of the incident, the victim had gone to a health centre. He was riding his motorcycle home when he came upon the suspect holding a machete by the roadside.

Uaychai stopped his motorcycle and fled into a rice field, but the suspect chased him. After the attack, Apichai flagged down a passing vehicle and walked to the station.

Police charged him with premeditated murder and carrying a weapon in public without just cause.

Reporters visited his home, a two-storey rental about 150m away from the scene of the crime, where they found the suspect's three dogs guarding the house. The suspect's mother, who lives with her son, had fled.

The village headman, unnamed in news reports, said the victim was a good-natured person who helped with village work and supported the community.

The suspect, by contrast, was unstable and aggressive. His wife and children had fled elsewhere, leaving him alone with his mother. He was often seen walking around with a machete, disturbing locals at shops.

The headman said he had planned to take the suspect for rehab but the attack happened before he could arrange it.