CHIANG MAI: A romantic online encounter led a 66-year-old woman from Lampang to travel alone to Chiang Mai, where she waited to meet a man she knew only as “Chai.” She believed he was a real pilot. After officers looked into the case, they found that the person she hoped to meet was linked to an AI-generated character on Facebook, leaving her with a mistaken impression of who he was.
At about 8 p.m. on September 16th, 2026, Chiang Mai Tourist Police and security officers at Chiang Mai International Airport approached the woman and offered help after finding her waiting at the airport for a man that had not arrived for many hours.
She had come from Lampang on her own, determined to meet “Chai,” a man she had gotten to know online romantically and believed to be a pilot with a real identity.
Officers’ initial checks found that the man she wanted to meet was tied to a character created with AI technology on Facebook.
The images and posts looked so realistic that the 66-year-old thought the person was genuine. She then decided to travel from Lampang to Chiang Mai to meet him in person.
What began online did not stay online. It led a user to leave home in search of someone she believed actually existed.
After learning of the situation, officers contacted the woman’s son to inform her family. Relatives said they had not known she had left home for Chiang Mai.
Authorities provided initial assistance, including food and drinking water, arranged temporary lodging, and helped her return home safely.
The case shows another side of AI and social media. Images, characters, and content created with the technology can look so real that some users may take them for actual people.
That risk is greater when AI-generated images or personalities are used to build accounts or profiles on social platforms. Users should check identities and information from more than one source before trusting someone, and especially before traveling to meet a person known only online.
For the original version of this article, please visit The Pattaya News.
