A student union’s president at Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna took to social media to warn his female classmates about a scam, perpetrated by a pervert in the guise of a photographer, and said he had evidence that nearly 500 women had been coerced and 30 were inappropriately touched by the man in the last four years.
This week, the scam became a trending topic on social media after Worawut Phetdee, the student union’s president and a photographer himself, posted details about the alleged con man’s methods to Facebook on Monday.
Worawut explained, via the Facebook post, that the “photographer,” identified only as Bank, would reach out to female university students on social media with the promise of a free photoshoot and the grand model treatment.
He said that Bank would usually suggest a private location, like a hotel room, dormitory, in the middle of a forest or a swimming pool, as the setting — before bargaining for way more than just a look through his lens when they showed up.
Bank would offer them “free sex” along with his service.
Worawut said that, because of his position as the president of the student union, many of Banks victims came to him for help. In fact, he said almost 500 women provided him with screenshots of their conversations with the con man, who appears to have asked his targets to wear a bikini, go braless, or wear a skin-tight dress for his photoshoots.
But after the photoshoots, Bank would only provide the women with less than 10 pictures, when he must have taken at least a hundred.
Worawut told Manager that 30 women said they were inappropriately touched by the photographer, who claimed he was only trying to adjust their posture.
One of the Bank’s alleged victims, a 19-year-old student, said in a broadcasted interview that the photographer propositioned her for sex during the entire photoshoot and insisted she pose nude, to which she said no.
“My boyfriend came with me, but he [Bank] told my boyfriend to wait while he took me into the jungle for the photoshoot,” she told Channel 8.
“At one point, he told me to suck in my tummy, and then he walked over to touch my lower stomach. I was shocked. I stepped back and said I had to call my boyfriend.”
Meanwhile, famous Bangkok lawyer Rachapon Sirisakorn responded to the scandal by saying that propositioning someone for sex or inviting someone to a sketchy photoshoot is not, technically, illegal.
However, for sending messages to multiple women, he could be charged with public annoyance, which is punishable by a fine of up to THB5,000 (about US$155).
