To pay hospital bill, woman asks friend to return $30,000 owed and he replies: ‘My problem?’
A woman is desperate to recover the $30,000 she lent a friend after being hospitalised following a fall in Bangkok.
Stomper Chen said she lost the sum after “placing trust in someone during one of the most vulnerable periods of my life”.
She had known the friend, Ray, for 12 years, but they had not been in contact for a decade until they reconnected at her mother’s wake in 2023. At the time, she was divorced and unemployed.
“In July 2025, I started to suffer from depression due to sudden loss of my job after 18 years and had to sell my HDB flat,” recounted Chen. “I was under medication and not in a stable mental or financial condition.”
She said Ray lent her $300 to help her pay for the legal fees involved in the sale.
“I had no one to turn to,” said the Stomper. “No parents, no siblings, divorced and no children. I really remember his kindness for helping me at my most difficult time.”
Friend asked for $30,000 loan
A day after Chen received the proceeds from the sale of her flat in January, Ray started asking for a $30,000 loan.
According to Chen, he told her $10,000 was to clear his personal debts, $10,000 was for his daughter’s school fees, tuition and insurance, and $10,000 was for a joint investment in a Japanese restaurant.
Ray allegedly promised to repay her $500 a month. However, Chen said she was initially hesitant as it would take about five years to repay the full sum.
The Stomper claimed he reassured her: “Don’t worry. Just treat it as you put your money with me. If in the future, you have any problem, at least you still have money with me, then I can help you. But I will try my best to pay you back as soon as possible.”
Ray also asked for most of the money in cash. So Chen let him accompany her to the POSB branch at White Sands shopping mall in Pasir Ris to withdraw the money.
“At that time, under pressure and still affected by my medication, I was not in the right state of mind to make a clear decision,” she said.
She said she took out $50,000, handed $25,000 to Ray and kept remaining $25,000 for her own expenses. She later transferred another $5,000 to his bank account, bringing the total to $30,000.
A week later, Chen said she found out Ray had backed out of the restaurant investment.
“When I asked for the $10,000 meant for the investment to be returned, he claimed it was considered repayment,” said Chen, who added that over time, he was unable to provide proof that the money had been used for his daughter or debts as claimed.
“I told him nicely that I needed him to transfer the full sum back to me since I found everything was a lie. But he never wanted to do so and said there was nothing left,” she said.
‘You go hospital my problem?’
Then in February, Chen suffered a head injury during a fall in Bangkok and was hospitalised for five days, incurring about $27,000 in medical bills.
When she turned to Ray for help, she said he replied: “You go hospital my problem?”
“I was so angry with him. I repeatedly demand for the full sum of money because now I needed it for my medical bills. But he told me that he had other people to pay too,”she said.
Chen said she had to use her reserve funds to pay the hospital bill. Ray also stopped responding to her messages.
“Now because things got very nasty after how I was treated by him when I was in hospital, no matter how many times I messaged him, he wouldn’t reply.”
Chen made a police report on March 13.
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed a report was lodged.
‘You cannot blame anyone’
On March 29, the Stomper went to Ray’s flat in Macpherson but was only able to speak to his father after waiting six hours.
She claimed his father told her: “If you want to go to the police, just go.”
“He said he used to work as a loan shark when he was young. So going to the police was nothing,” she added.
“I cried and knelt down to beg his father to ask Ray to return the money.”
Chen told the father she desperately needed the money to survive and asked the older man if he could transfer any amount to her, but he said neither he nor his son had money.
She said the father also told her: “You are the one who was willing to loan Ray the money. So you cannot blame anyone.”
Chen said she is now facing serious financial difficulties.
“I am sharing this not to attack, but to seek advice and awareness,” she explained.
“If anyone has been in a similar situation or knows what actions I can take to recover the money, I would appreciate your guidance.”
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