A 48-year-old English man vacationing in Pattaya, Thailand, ran out of money and tried extorting more from his family back home by having his mates pose as his kidnappers.

Time and money fly when you’re having fun, and Ian Robbie Day, a 48-year-old man from Portsmouth, England, was having the time of his life in Thailand’s party capital of Pattaya. After repeatedly prolonging his exotic vacation and asking his family back home to send him more money, Ian found himself with no more money to burn on booze, drugs, and other local pleasures. His family refused to fund his non-stop partying anymore, so he was forced to make a decision – either end his Thai vacation and return home, or find a way to get his hands on more money. It was a no-brainer, so he convinced his mates to beat him up and pose as masked gangsters, so he could fake his kidnapping and ask his family for ransom money…

Photo: Лечение наркомании/Pixabay

Ian convinced his partying friends to punch him in the face and leave him bruised up so that the photos he sent his family back home appeared genuine. Some of his friends also posed as the kidnappers in the pics, to make the kidnapping story believable. It worked, only when the man’s family saw the photos, they panicked and notified the police about his kidnapping.

The 48-year-old man probably never stopped to think that Interpol would get involved in his kidnapping case, but it did, and the international police organization managed to quickly track him down to a hotel in Pattaya and put together a strike team. Only when they breached his room door, instead of a bound, defenseless victim, they found a drunk, drugged-up tourist partying with his would-be kidnappers.

“The guy chatted in iMessage and FaceTime with his relatives in the UK,” Police Lieutenant Colonel Sorasak Saengcha told journalists. “He sent pictures of himself being attacked, and then after with injuries, he took pictures of himself looking like he had been beaten up. His friends would punch him and give him bruises on his face, then he would video call his family on FaceTime. He asked his three friends to act like they were kidnappers holding him hostage. He made them wear masks in the videos and act like gangsters.

“When his family wouldn’t support him anymore, he staged the kidnap, that was the reason he did that,” Saengcha added. “His family was worried and they contacted the police in the UK and Interpol was informed. Interpol contacted Thai police and we traced the man. But when we arrived they were having a party.”

When the police found Day on January 26, he was reportedly in the middle of a two-day drug binge with three other foreigners. All party animals were arrested on charges of possessing unauthorized firearms and ammunition, possession of category one drugs, and having expired visas. They will most likely be deported.