Crime

Police Arrest Former Senator for the Sexual Procurement of a 15-Year-Old Girl

According to a police source, a former senator has been charged with purchasing sex from a 15-year-old girl after arrest warrants for him and four other suspects was issued by the court.

The source stated that the 57-year-old former senator, identified only as Mr. Boonsong, met with investigators at the Ban Mo police station on Wednesday evening to acknowledge the charge and was granted parole.

Mr. Boonsong, a prominent politician representing a major coalition party, was reportedly one of six clients who purchased intercourse from a 15-year-old girl in Ban Mo district at a resort where her mother worked.

Investigators had gathered sufficient evidence to issue arrest warrants for five of the six suspects, including Mr. Boonsong, according to Pol Col Somkid Sawisai, chief of the investigation division for the provincial police in Saraburi.

The other four were identified as Suriya, a hospital staff member; Pornchai, a contractor in Lop Buri; Decha, a former director of the National Office of Buddhism in Saraburi; and Prasong, a merchant.

On Monday, Mr Decha was arrested in Ang Thong while Mr Prasong was detained in Nakhon Pathom. The source did not disclose information about the other two suspects.

Pol Col Somkid stated that some of the accused did not completely confess, whereas the others did. All of them were free after posting bond. He added that there was insufficient evidence against the sixth suspect to issue an arrest warrant.

senator faces child-sex charge

Mamiao, the girl’s mother, will be detained by police for child prostitution and illegal entry, according to Pol Col Somkid.

The scandal broke out when the girl’s father and one of her teachers filed a police report in Saraburi against the girl’s mother, who purportedly forced her daughter into prostitution the previous year.

Her mother put her to work as a housemaid at the resort, charging clients between 1,500 and 2,000 baht per visit. Reportedly, the girl was able to identify all of her patrons, including Mr. Boonsong and Mr. Decha.

In other police news, a 16-year-old student who had been gang-raped by four men attempted suicide by fleeing in front of a train at a railway crossing but was saved.

The girl was reportedly in severe distress due to the fact that the four suspects, aged 20 to 27, were free on parole and their relatives continued to harass her and her family.

Tuesday night, the girl attempted suicide in Muang district by running towards a railway crossing and into the route of a train. The bystanders managed to yank her to safety.

The police took her to a local station to calm her down before transferring her to Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital for treatment.

The assault occurred on April 28. According to Thai media reports, the four suspects confessed during police interrogation, but they were not detained because, according to police, they posed no escape risk.

The superintendent of the Huai Thalaeng police station, Pol Col Sitthiphon Thimsungnern, stated that investigators filed charges and submitted their report to prosecutors in June. The girl and her family turned to the media and a non-governmental organisation for assistance after two months of silence.

16-Year-Old Rape Victim Saved From Committing Suicide

The victim’s family visited the Huai Thalaeng police station on August 30 for an update on the case.

Two days later, the family sought assistance from the social media advocate Kanthat Pongpaiboonvej, alias Kan Chompalang, who took them to see Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief.

A few days later, the suspects were eventually brought to court. The court granted their parole on a surety of 400,000 baht and ordered them to wear electronic monitoring devices despite opposition from the police and prosecutors. They were also commanded to maintain a minimum distance of one kilometre from the victim’s residence.

However, the girl was filled with dread because her alleged perpetrators lived in the same neighbourhood, according to a source with knowledge of the case. She sought treatment at a psychiatric hospital after relatives of the suspects allegedly intimidated her.

Allegedly, some relatives threatened to employ solicitors to sue her for embarrassing them. They allegedly also asked others to disseminate the word that she had been gang-raped. The girl felt embarrassed and dared not attend school, according to the source.

Pol Col Sitthiphon stated that he had ordered officers to confer with the suspects’ families. If the suspects did not cease their intimidation, the police would petition the court to revoke their parole.

Since she was 12 years old, the girl, a Mathayom 4 pupil at a school in Huai Thalaeng, has suffered from depression, but she has not consistently taken her medication. She reportedly attempted suicide on multiple occasions.

The provincial office of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security carried the girl to the Nakhon Ratchasima Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital for treatment before sending her home. She is currently under the protection of the Ministry of Justice’s Witness Protection Office.

Crime

Police Officer Being Ordained at Temple Arrested for Running Scam Call Center

Police in Northern Thailand have arrested a fellow officer as he was being ordained at a temple in Ngao district of neighbouring Lampang province.

Pol Lt Col Bandit Khonkan chief inspector from the Hang Dong police station was disrobed and taken to the Chang Puak station in Chiang Mai. He was arrested on charges of running a call centre scam gang in Chiang Mai Province.

According to Thai Media Chiang Mai Provincial Police Region 5 obtained an arrest warrant for Pol Lt Col Bandit on Friday from the Chiang Mai Provincial Court for procuring illegal telecom equipment, setting up a station and using public airwaves to run a telecommunications business without permission.

Pol Lt Col Bandit reportedly told investigators that he was not the ringleader and was only a member of the gang with Chinese partners.

His arrest followed the apprehension of his 26-year-old daughter, Miss Wanuchapond, 26, and three others during raids at three housing projects in Chiang Mai on Friday, Pol Maj Gen Weerachon Boontawee, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 5 told Thai media.

During the raids police police discovered around 12 GSM gateways, or SIM boxes, which are devices used for converting cellular networks into mobile phone numbers used domestically.

The chief inspectors daughter Miss Wanuchapond told the arresting officers that she was paid 8,000 baht a month at each of the three locations for renting thr rooms and monitoring devices.

She claimed she had no idea what the devices were and accepted the job because the pay was attractive.

Police investigators working with telecom regulators used a special tracking device to monitor the gang’s communications and learned that its base was in Myanmar opposite Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.

The call center gang used the GSM gateways to make calls over the internet to scam people in Thailand out of million of baht.

The GSM gateways transmitting signals via SIM boxes to convert them into domestic phone numbers, duping victims into thinking they were being called from Thai government agencies.

Pol Maj Gen Weerachon said that each SIM box held 32 SIM cards, with a capacity of up to 300,000 calls a month. The seized devices had made fraudulent calls over 3.6 million times.

He said the their investigation is ongoing and they are working to track down the remaining conspirators, including Chinese and other Thai suspects.

Authorities are still deciding whether Pol Lt Col Bandit will be dismissed from the force, he said, adding that so far, no other officers are known to have been involved.

Police in Chiang Rai Launch Crackdown on Cyber Criminals in Golden Triangle

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.

On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.

His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.

Related Police News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Crime

Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourists Over Home Invasions

Immigration police officers have arrested four Colombian nationals in connection with a series of home burglaries at luxury housing complexes in the Bangkok metropolitan area and Chiang Buri Province.

Pol Maj Gen Panthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told a press briefing that three of the suspects were apprehended in Nonthaburi Province and the fourth in South Pattaya, Chon Buri Province.

According to the Bangkok Post, the Colombians were charged with stealing conspiracy and seized around 3 million baht (US$82,500.00).

According to Pol Maj Gen Panthana, the criminals rode motorcycles through housing estates, scoping out the properties and waiting for the owners to depart before committing their crimes.

He stated that all four of the accused denied any involvement in the home break-ins, but the arresting squad discovered evidence that implicated them.

Police called to home invasion

Meanwhile, police were dispatched to a luxury housing development in Tambon Nong Prue, Chonburi Province, after a Chinese man was attacked during a house invasion.

When they arrived, they discovered the house owner, Mr. Qian Peng Yi, visibly scared and with marks from being tied up with a cable. He informed police that three Chinese males broke into his home at 9 p.m., one of whom brandished a gun at him and directed him to his bedroom.

They bound his hands and feet, gagged him with fabric, taped his head, and forced him into the bed. The intruders then attempted to compel him into transferring 10 million baht in cryptocurrencies to them, endangering the life of his 33-year-old cousin who was in a second-floor bedroom.

While they scoured the house in search of riches, Mr. Peng Yi managed to flee and hide; he subsequently observed them leave with his cousin. Officials investigated the property and analyzed security camera footage from the incident and surrounding areas.

Around 9 p.m., a 30-year-old van driver came at the Bang Lamung police station after being contacted by an agency to carry Chinese customers from Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The driver informed authorities that he was supposed to pick them up at a motel about a kilometer from the Chinese businessman’s home. He then drove them to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, arriving at 1 a.m. and receiving 1,800 baht.

The driver took a snapshot of the group smoking at the airport gate and identified one of them as the victim’s cousin. Police suspected coordination between her and the three suspects in her cousin’s heist, who all departed Thailand on the same aircraft.

Other Bangkok News:

Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel

Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel

Crime

Son of Thailand’s Leading Legal Scholar on Corruption Arrested for Running Online Gambling Network

The son of a former senator and leading economist and expert on corruption and gambling in Thailand has been arrested for on charges of running an online gambling network and its payment system.

Police from Thailand’s Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) have confiscated assets worth more than (US$ 11.1 million) 400 million baht.

Narote Piriyarangsan, 33, was arrested following crackdowns in three sites around the city, according to Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, commander of the police Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).

Mr Narote’s father, Sangsit Piriyarangsan, is an economist who has written articles and books about corruption and gambling. He was one of the appointed senators that were investigating the government’s intention to legalize casino gaming before their terms expired.

Police also detained 39-year-old Narayut Narakaew, the owner of the gambling website 69pgslot.com. The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the couple for operating an internet gambling service and money laundering.

According to the Bangkok Post, police seized two desktop computers, one laptop computer, 14 mobile phones, 21 bank passbooks, 53 ATM cards, and four high-end cars — a Ferrari 926 GTS, an Aston Martin, a Lexus, and a Subaru — totaling more than 400 million baht.

Police launched the inquiry after discovering the online gambling site, which accepted funds via an automatic deposit-withdrawal system through bank accounts and deposits in the AskMePay system. Players scanned the VPay QR code as well as the QR codes for Heng Online 888 or Heng Pay Company.

Police also discovered that payments received via QR code scans were transferred to the account of Heng Pay Co and then to the gambling website’s mule accounts using AskMePay, which did not use banks’ face recognition scanning. An inquiry indicated a monthly turnover of approximately 5 billion baht.

According to investigators, the website has been up and running for around four years, with the payment mechanism in use for roughly eight months.

According to Pol Maj Gen Athip, Mr Narote owns the gaming website’s payment systems and is the director of Heng Pay Co. After gathering evidence, authorities requested arrest warrants for 14 people.

Thailand does not allow almost any kind of gaming. Even though the law doesn’t say anything specific about online gaming, it is still considered gambling. The country has pretty strict rules about gambling. Thai punters can bet on the national lottery and horse races, but they can’t bet on any other types of games.

But it’s not a secret that there is a huge illegal gaming business in Thailand, even though it’s illegal.

The illegal casinos, online betting shops, underground lotteries, and pop-up bookies that take bets on everything from cockfights to Muay Thai make a shadow economy that is worth billions of dollars every year.