70-Year-Old Chinese Woman Spends 15 Million Baht on Live Streaming in Six Months, Can't Pay Electricity Bill
A 70-year-old Shanghai woman spent 15 million baht of her family's savings on live-streaming gifts in six months, leaving household bills unpaid and unable to afford electricity charges.
Jiang, a 70-year-old from Shanghai, China, has developed a severe addiction to competitive live-streaming battles on social media platforms, known as "PK" (performer versus performer competitions). Within six months, she depleted over 3.3 million yuan (roughly 15 million baht) in family savings and personal pension funds by sending expensive gifts to her favorite streamers.
Her son Wang, who works in another city, had entrusted his mother with years of accumulated salary and bonuses due to her reputation for being frugal and responsible. However, when he returned home, he discovered the savings account was completely empty, household utilities remained unpaid, and even a minor 15-yuan electricity bill (about 70 baht) couldn't be settled. Shocked by the situation, Wang stated his mother's behavior was "more severe than drug addiction."
Since May, Jiang has been spending over 500,000 yuan monthly (approximately 2.3 million baht), continuously sending gifts ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 yuan each (9,000 to 14,000 baht) to support her favorite streamers in winning competitions. She explained that she became fascinated with the competitive system and wanted to help her preferred streamer win, leading her to impulsively send expensive gifts.
It took Wang several days to make his mother realize the severity of her actions. She had even considered using her next pension payment to continue the spending spree. Jiang expressed remorse, saying, "My son asked me how much a drug addict spends monthly. He told me I spend even more than that. I didn't realize it. All the money just vanished. I really feel sorry to my son."
When her savings dried up, Jiang attempted to contact the two streamers who received the most money, but they responded coldly with "little love, but lasting love" before disappearing. Wang subsequently filed complaints with consumer protection agencies and the streaming platform, though no concrete progress has been made to date.
