Son fakes his death on social media to con parents, family for quick money
A Thai man faked his own death in a bid to collect money from his family for his "funeral." Tachawit Janngiw got his wife to post multiple pictures of his "dead body" on Facebook. To make the entire situation look realistic, he even put cotton up his nostrils. “The last photo before deactivating his Facebook. Love you,” his wife captioned the picture.
Friends were quick to express their concern as many asked what led to the death. To this, his wife replied that Tachawit was diagnosed with cancer and also had asthma that led to his death. Meanwhile, others raised concern about how he never showed any signs of illness. But his wife covered it up saying he “pretended he was okay all along."
The wife, who was not identified, took the lie a step further by calling her mother-in-law and breaking the tragic news to her before asking money for her son's funeral. “His wife called me and said he was dead,” his mom told in a broadcast interview, as reported by Coconuts Bangkok. “She said she didn’t have money to prepare the body, so I sent her money on that same day. The family was devastated to hear the news and did not waste a second as they quickly sent her the money.
Tachawit's mother claims that she sent her daughter-in-law $600 (US) in order to buy a coffin and rent a vehicle to transport the body of her son back to his hometown in Lampang province. The family also contacted a temple and started making arrangements for a funeral as Tachawit's body was set to arrive there the next day.
When neither the body or his Tachawit's wife showed up the next day, the family grew worried, and his cousin decided to give her a call. Much to their surprise, it was Tachawit who picked up the call but quickly cut the call after he realized who was on the other side of the call. The family had to cancel the funeral service after they allegedly paid US$1,800. Despite all this, Tachawit's mother claims that she is not going to hold this against her son, even though she has cut all the contacts with him.
However, as it turns out, Tachawit has a long history of telling lies. Warit Meechochai, his longtime friend, and a co-worker told the website about another incident in which Tachawit had lied. “I didn’t think death was something anyone would allege … I mean, even the monks believed him,” he said. While Tachawit and his wife have been silent on social media ever since their lies were unraveled, his friends and people are still leaving hateful comments on his page.
“You b**tard, 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," read one comment from a friend of Tachawit. Celebrity lawyer Gerdphol Geawgerd tells the website that Tachawit could be charged with both fraud and posting false information onto the computer system.