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A Thai man faked his own death on Facebook with the help of his wife to scam family members of funeral cost.
Tachawit Janngiw’s wife posted series of photos of his dead body with cotton balls in his nostrils on his Facebook account and wrote “love you”.
Tachawit’s friends and colleagues left comments asking what had happened to him, to which his wife replied that he had died of cancer and asthma 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 that he had “pretended he was ok all along”.
As news of Janngiw’s unexpected death spread among his family and friends, they started phoning in and offering their support.
The unidentified wife called everyone who knew the husband asking for money to cover burial cost. She even called his mother to deliver the heartbreaking news and ask her for financial assistance.
“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 family sent THB20,000 (N 216,600) cash to Tachawit’s wife to buy a coffin and rent a vehicle to transport his body back to his hometown in Lampang province.
The family contacted a temple and quickly began arranging a funeral for their beloved, whose corpse was meant to arrive the next day.
The next day, Tachawit’s body which was supposed to be delivered at his mother’s house was not delivered.
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 family had to cancel the funeral service after paying an allegedly unrecoverable THB60,000 (N649,800).
His mother admitted that she has cut all ties with his deceitful son and his wife, but said that she would not hold his actions against him.
Tachawit’s death scam made national news headlines and prompted several of his colleagues and acquaintances to come forward and confirm his long history of lying and greed.
Warit Meechochai, Tachawit’s long-time friend and co-worker, on the other hand, told reporters today that everyone in their social circle is aware of Tachawit’s long history of lying and deceit.
Warit said Tachawit stole another friend’s wallet when the fellow was on his way to donate a large sum of money to a temple.
To Warit, this latest incident of his friend’s fake death was several steps too far.
“I didn’t think death was something anyone would allege … I mean, even the monks believed him,” he told Amarin TV.
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 his former schoolmates commented on his Facebook page.
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.”