November 28, 2022
BANGKOK – A 19-year-old woman chose a novel way of escaping her creditors. She decided to get her death announced on Facebook.
An unnamed netizen posted a Facebook message earlier this week saying her sister, Rungtiwa (last name withheld) had died. The post was accompanied by a photo of the “deceased” at a funeral.
The post read: “Rest in peace … [I] did not think that my sister would do this. I was shocked by this unexpected event. Rest in peace, my sister. [I hope] both mother [Rungtiwa] and her daughter become angels in heaven.”
As soon as the message was posted, many friends and acquaintances responded by expressing their condolences and sharing news of her purported death.
Later, however, it was found that the post was fake and aimed to mislead her friends and creditors.
However, as of press time, the post had disappeared.
Rungtiwa’s Facebook page showed an earlier message from a user named โอ๊ต ซอยสิบเอ็ด (Oat Alley 11) saying, “Hey you, transfer the money or you will be embarrassed.”
The post came with images of chat messages between the two of them, with him asking for his money back and Rungtiwa dodging the subject.
This message was shared by several other creditors who tried to track her down.
Intrigued by this mystery, a Nation TV reporter travelled to Chonburi on Thursday to meet Rungtiwa’s friend Sudarat Chaiyasuwan, 24.
Sudarat said she had known Rungtiwa for a long time and always helped her out. She said Rungtiwa had told her this week that she was returning to her hometown in Nong Bua Lamphu province, and after that, her creditors were unable to track her.
The day after Rungtiwa “returned” to her hometown, Sudarat said she found the Facebook post announcing her death. She said she was also surprised to find out that Rungtiwa was pregnant.
“Baifern [Rungtiwa] is only 19 years old, yet she managed to trick people a lot older than her,” Sudarat said.
She said she and others had contacted the teenager’s mother in Nong Bua Lamphu, only to learn that she knew nothing about her daughter’s “death”.
After failing to get an answer from the mother, Sudarat then tried to contact the sister who had posted the death announcement. However, she said, the sister responded rudely, saying the funeral would be held in Chaiyaphum, where their father lives.
She then contacted her father, only to learn that there was no funeral and that he did not know his daughter had died.
Sudarat said judging by all these developments it is clear that Rungtiwa was faking her death and pregnancy to avoid having to pay back the money she borrowed to fund her expensive habits.
She added that she and other people will be dumping Rungtiwa and would not forgive her even if she apologises.