A British TikToker who boasted about living in Thailand while claiming UK benefits says she has started a hunger strike after being arrested by Thai authorities. Ellis Matthews, 32, is being held at a detention centre for mothers with children in Bangkok alongside her four-year-old son, Cairo.
Matthews was detained earlier this month for allegedly overstaying her visa by ten days after it was cancelled. Thai officials reportedly took action following concerns about Cairo’s welfare. The mother-of-three blamed 'people in the UK [who have been] trolling me' after controversy surrounding her lifestyle.
Posting to 16,000 followers under the account '@mumontheruninasia', she had claimed she was receiving £2,300 in Disability Living Allowance 'for the past four years of not living in the UK'. She said she qualified due to her 'six mental disorders' which required 'ongoing treatment costs to be met by the NHS by the taxpayer'. British citizens can receive certain UK benefits while living abroad in 17 countries, but Thailand is not among them. Matthews now insists her videos were 'just a joke' and that she was 'lying … to get more followers'.
Speaking from the detention centre, Matthews described conditions as 'hell on earth', saying she has been refusing to eat for two days in protest. '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,' she told MailOnline. She claims the conditions have left her and her son covered in rashes, insect bites, and head lice. 'We can’t sleep at night because there’s so much screaming and shouting,' she added. Matthews’ two other sons remain in the UK with relatives, and she says she does not have custody of them.
