Stealth wealth: Thai woman wins $467k lottery, husband accuses her of hiding winnings

Hitting the jackpot in a lottery would be welcome news for many.

But for one Thai man whose wife had struck gold, it seemed to have brought on more than he bargained for.

As reported by Thai news platform Thaiger on Monday (March 13), the man named Narin claimed he had been working overseas to earn money for his family when he heard news that his wife back home had won the lottery.

She apparently hid the winnings and had also married another man, he said. 

The 47-year-old said his wife, Chaweewan, 43, had scooped 12 million baht (S$467,000) in the lottery and he only found out about it after his daughters told him. 

Hoping to get justice, he sought help from a well-known Thai lawyer last Saturday (March 11) and filed a lawsuit against Chaweewan. 

While the couple did not sign an official marriage certificate, the lawyer insisted Narin has rights to the money as their relatives and others knew about the relationship, which apparently to them was enough to make it official. 

'I want justice,' man says 

Narin shared that the couple had been married for 20 years, and they have three daughters together. 

As the family had a debt of more than two million baht, they moved to South Korea in 2014 to earn money and pay it off. 

Eventually, Chaweewan moved back to Thailand to take care of the children while Narin stayed on to work. 

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Narin claimed he would transfer 27,000 to 30,000 baht every month to the family back home. 

After he learned from his daughters that his wife had won the lottery, he tried to contact her but was ignored. 

So, he travelled back to Thailand on March 3 to confront her. 

He also discovered that his wife had married a new lover earlier on Feb 25.

"I was shocked and did not know what to do. I am disappointed. I did not expect that my wife of 20 years would do this to me," said Narin. 

"I only had 60,000 baht left in my bank account because I gave money to her every month. I want to call out for justice and the money that I deserve."

Wife denies accusations, files complaint for defamation 

On the other hand, Chaweewan insisted she did not hide the lottery winnings from Narin and has filed a complaint against him for defamation. 

She alleged that Narin broke up with her over the phone several years ago and that the neighbours knew about this. Narin has denied this. 

Chaweewan also claimed that her husband had lied about sending 27,000 to 30,000 baht every month and that in reality he only transferred about 3,000 to 4,000 baht to their daughters' bank accounts. 

ALSO READ: No money, no honey - Thai woman flees with husband's $230k lottery winnings and her alleged lover

melissateo@asiaone.com