A Thai woman who dreamed of a quiet life growing durians after prison was left in tears, after discovering her dodgy ex-husband flogged her home and orchard behind her back while she was locked up.
Fresh out of prison and ready to rebuild her life, 53 year old Ratchaneeporn was hoping to return to her family home in Chumphon and tend to the durian orchard she planted with her own hands.
Instead, she found the house sold, the land gone, and her money-grabbing ex-husband long vanished, leaving her homeless, heartbroken, and hunting for answers.
“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. My name is still on the documents. How could he sell it?”
The ex-convict, who spent nearly 12 years behind bars on drug charges, told KhaoSod reporters she returned home in September 2024 after being released from Songkhla Women’s Correctional Institution, only to discover that her philandering ex husband, who had vanished over two years earlier after blowing cash on gambling and women, had sneaked back and sold everything without her knowledge.
“I had nowhere to go,” she said tearfully. “I had to stay in a garage near the old house. I felt like I didn’t exist.”
The house and five-rai durian orchard in Tha Sae district, Chumphon province, was built on land bought by her parents and legally registered under her name. Her ex-husband’s name was never on the deeds or household registration.
Before her arrest, she’d planted 70 durian trees, her ticket to a fresh start. But when she returned, she found the property had been sold five times over, with the most recent buyer coughing up 3 million baht in 2024.
“How is it this easy to buy and sell property that belongs to someone else?” she asked. “I was still listed as the legal owner!”
She’s since filed a complaint with Tha Sae Police and taken her case to the Chumphon Provincial Ombudsman Centre, armed with documents and evidence. But to her dismay, officials told her to “negotiate” with the buyer and said they couldn’t help further.
“I went to them for justice, and they told me to go talk it out? What’s the point of having an ombudsman if they can’t do anything?”
Ratchaneeporn is now demanding an investigation into who signed off the fraudulent sale and is calling on authorities to track down those involved, including the ex-husband who vanished with the cash.
“All I want is my home back,” she said. “The one I worked for. The one my parents built. The one I planted with my own hands.”
The story Durian and gone! Thai jailbird’s dream life stolen by ex-husband as seen on Thaiger News.
