Pattaya —
Many domestic Thai tourists were allegedly scammed out of tens of thousands of baht by a fake Pattaya pool villa Facebook page.
Ms. Achiraya Malarat, a 27-year-old Thai tourist from Khon Kaen province, contacted The Pattaya News to expose a scammer disguised as a pool villa operator on Facebook.
She said on April 18th, she and her family wanted to visit Pattaya for a break and for Pattaya’s famous Wan Lai Songkran Festival, so she contacted a Facebook page named “Pool Villa Pattaya by Kanda” to book a villa.
Since the page had many followers, Ms. Achiraya believed it was legitimate and proceeded to transfer a deposit which was supposed to help cover home insurance of 16,900 baht to the page.
After successfully transferring the money, the Facebook page went offline for more than half a day. Ms. Achiraya said she attempted to call the page through the provided phone number, but she found that the number could not be reached.
As a result, Ms. Achiraya waited until she finally received a booking message from the page, specifying that upon arrival at the accommodation, she should call a person named “Paa Meaw” along with an attached phone number.
On April 22nd, Ms. Achiraya and her extended family consisting of 18 people visited the pool villa in Soi Jomtien 12 and was bewildered when the villa operator told her that she had been deceived by a fake Facebook page.
The unidentified operator told the victim that this villa was full everyday, and if she wanted to book it, she had to do it one month in advance.
Shocked by the truth, Ms. Achiraya contacted Paa Meaw, and no surprise, the person could not be reached.
She then contacted the Facebook page and was immediately blocked.
The villa operator told Ms. Achiraya that the Facebook page used the villa’s photos to dupe people and that she should file a report with the police.
The victim then visited the Pattaya Police Station and was instructed by the officers to file a report to a police station in her hometown for more convenient questioning.
The victim urged Pattaya Police to show more effort in solving her plight as it could potentially ruin Pattaya’s reputation.
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