Till wealth do us part: Thai man flees from wife after winning $270,000 lottery

Money is a tricky thing — it can bring couples together or cause lovebirds to split.

A Thai man recently fled from his wife after the couple won 6 million baht (S$270,000) in the lottery.

But not before taking the winning ticket along with him, of course.

Pornthida Chamnanwet, 23, filed a police report on Nov 17 after her husband Wijak Wannaprasit, 34, ran off with the ticket.

She had picked the lottery ticket that won first prize in a lottery draw on Nov 16.

The couple then recorded their win at a police station near Bangkok, signed their names on the lottery ticket and took a photo with it.

They had agreed to split the winnings equally, Pornthida said, and had ideas on how they would spend the prize money.

But their joy was short-lived.

A day later, Wijak had a change of heart and told his wife that instead of 3 million baht, she'd be getting 2 million baht.

She asked why and they got into a heated argument, which led to him walking out of their rented room with the lottery ticket.

Pornthida filed a report, asking the police for help in preventing her husband from cashing in the ticket.

According to a Thai lawyer, Wijak is liable to a jail term of up of three years, if he's found guilty of misappropriation.

After the incident was reported by Thai media, Pornthida's runaway husband returned home and said he has yet to collect the prize money.

Now, the couple are back together and said they will pick up their winnings from the state lottery office.

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lamminlee@asiaone.com