Remember the Thai farmer who went viral two weeks ago for taking heart-meltingly adorable selfies with a beloved buffalo? Of course you do, we did two stories on the guy!
Still, we’ll refresh your memory all the same. After gaining a degree of fame with the aforementioned selfies, Surat Paewket then confessed to his followers that the cow actually belonged to a local farmer. Worse, the farmer was considering selling the beast to a mysterious third-party who clearly would not love and care for him like our selfie-taking hero.
Taking that story to netizens, a crowdfunding campaign quickly helped him raise the funds to buy the cow himself from the clearly callous farmer who owned him.
Or so he says.
Turns out there’s another side to the story — the farmer’s.
Boonlert Kanpakdee, legal owner of the internet-famous buffalo, yesterday spoke out against Surat, claiming he never intended to sell “Thongkam” the buffalo to a third party as the farmer/selfie-taker claimed.
Boonlert, who also happens to be mayor of Chai Nat province, went so far as to file a police report against Surat for fraud, accusing the farmer of tricking netizens into giving him over THB135,000 (about US$4,000) to purchase the smiling buffalo, reported Workpoint.
Boonlert was accompanied by celebrity lawyer Songkran Atchariyasap on a trip to Kannayao police station in Bangkok, where he made the accusation. The mayor stressed that he never said he’d sell Thongkam nor expected Surat to come up with the money.
He alleged that he had simply hired Surat earlier in the month to temporarily take care of the buffalo while his own farm land was flooded.
However, about a week into buffalo-sitting, the Thai farmer suddenly expressed interest in buying “Thongkam” and asked for some time to gather the funds. (That would be about the time the farmer’s selfies started going viral.)
The mayor claimed he had no idea what was going on online, until he had already agreed to sell Thongkam for THB100,000 (about US$3,000) to the farmer.
It was only later, he says, that he found out that Surat got on the news, and raised the money with what he alleges is a made-up story.
Boonlert said he went to the police as soon as he could, according to Khaosod.
As a display of good faith, the small town mayor even turned the THB100,000 (US$3,000) over to authorities for safekeeping while refunds are sorted out for the donors.
Police are currently interviewing witnesses, evaluating the evidence, and determining what, if any, laws were actually broken. If Surat is found guilty, a warrant for his arrest could be issued in the next few days.
The smiling buffalo, meanwhile, has been sequestered by police. (Editor: Sad face emoji)
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