CHIANG MAI — A local social media personality known as “Nong Oil,” or Celeb of Chom Thong, has been arrested after refusing to return a lost mobile phone unless the owner paid her a 500-baht “time fee.”
Police said the case came to light after the phone’s owner dropped it in front of a Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives branch in Chom Thong. When the owner called the number, Oil answered but insisted on being paid before returning it. Frustrated, the owner filed a formal complaint with Chom Thong police.
On September 12, officers tracked down Oil and brought her in for questioning along with her boyfriend. During the process, police discovered her partner had a history of drug-related offenses. A preliminary drug test returned positive for methamphetamine use.
The boyfriend was immediately charged with consuming a Category 1 narcotic, while Oil herself now faces charges related to the phone incident. Both are in police custody as investigators move the case forward.
The bizarre mix of petty extortion and narcotics has fueled online outrage, with netizens criticizing Oil for turning a lost-and-found into a money grab — and ending up in deeper legal trouble than she ever expected.
