A British mum who has been living the dream in Thailand for 4 years while collecting £2,300 a month in benefits from the UK now finds herself in Thai prison, along with her 4-year-old son, after overstaying her visa.
Ellis Matthews, 32, AKA MumOnTheRunInAsia on TikTok, teaches expats how to claim benefits in the UK while living abroad, and has racked up 16k followers in the process. She claims she receives £2,300 a month in Disability Living Allowance due to her “six mental disorders”, even though she’s been in Thailand for years.
But the Lancashire lass, who has previously appeared on Judge Rinder, had her home in Pattaya raided by police and is now being held, alongside 4-year-old son Cairo, in an overcrowded, “rat-infested” jail in Bangkok.
Speaking from the Mothers and Children Immigration Detention Centre, Ellie told MailOnline:
“This is hell on earth, it’s the worst prison that you can imagine.
“I’m locked up in a cell for most of the day with 16 other people and none of them speak English. It’s so hot and overcrowded that you can barely breathe.”
Both Ellis and Cairo have already got lice, she said, and the food is so “disgusting” that she only eats the rice.
“Nobody is helping me, and I’ve just been left here to rot.
“We can’t sleep at night because there’s so much screaming and shouting. There are 35 women and children in the cell next to ours.
“It’s unbearable in here, I can’t stop crying and just want to get out as quickly as possible.”
Sounds rough. I wish there was more on how her son is doing but there’s no mention aside from him having lice and being in the prison with her. Neither does the article state how long she overstayed her visa for, but I reckon she must have been taking the p1ss to be jailed over it. Her TikTok videos probably didn’t help either, if the authorities looked her up.
In one of her TikToks, Ellis is holding cash and says:
“I picked up my Disability Living Allowance today and I’ve been doing so for the past four years of not living in the UK.”
So, I receive around £2,300 per month undisputable [SIC] money and that pays for my lifestyle out here in Thailand.”
What can you say really? Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Although the player should probably be smart enough to renew their visa if they’re planning on being out there for a while, and particularly when they’ve got a four-year-old child who they are responsible for.
Of course, it’s completely illegal to receive UK benefits while living in Thailand, and Ellis is now saying she never received any benefits while in Thailand, and thast it was all “just a joke”. Which I’m sure can be easily confirmed by The Department of Work and Pensions if true.
Either way, not a great spot to be in. One day Ellis is amassing a respectable social media following by sunning herself in Thailand and boasting about receiving UK benefits, and the next she’s in a Bangkok jail with her 4-year-old for overstaying their visas.
Amazingly, a GoFundMe has been set up to help Ellis and Cairo out, which you can check out here if you want. £180 raised thus far!
