The scourge of our national obsession with chasing cookies continues to destroy lives, from the Pattaya man who nearly plunged to his death to the over THB1 million in phone bills which recently hit three families.

Just as carrier AIS was announcing it would waive a Suphan Buri farmer’s THB200,000 bill, two more parents yesterday reported receiving huge phone bills from AIS this month after their children bought items to advance in smartphone games such as Cookie Run, the popular game by Japan’s Line Corp.

These new instances have prompted telecom regulators to propose monthly limits for phone purchases and better notification of users when they occur, according to state-run media.

The most impressive accomplishment goes to the 15-year-old son of Atchara Jaikrua. He managed to run up THB596,398.51 in charges for the Tak province family after getting his hands on their new smartphone for only four days.

Meanwhile, another anonymous parent shared a screenshot of an online phone bill that appears to show a THB137,014.47 bill. The image was tweeted by MCOT reporter Peerapol Anutarasot, who claimed the damage was also done by a child who spent the money on several games, Kapook reported.

It was only Monday when Amporn Chumcheundee, a farmer from Suphan Buri province, shared her story of being billed over THB200,000 by AIS for her son’s Cookie Run purchases.

AIS announced the company would not charge Amporn for the items bought in the game and would pay Line Corp. using its own funds, according to Khaosod.

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