14 Held in Bangkok Raid on Chinese Scam Call Center and Gambling Network, Including 10 Chinese Nationals
BANGKOK — Thai immigration police on Oct. 22 raided three homes in Bangkok's Sai Mai district, arresting 14 people, including 10 Chinese nationals, in what police described as a Chinese scam-call center and online gambling network.
According to English-language outlet ASEAN NOW, the operation followed the escape of a 25-year-old Chinese man, identified only as Liu, who went to police after fleeing the operation. Liu told police he
had been lured to Thailand with the promise of an 80,000-baht monthly salary for what was presented as an administrative role, only to be forced to work for the group on arrival. He escaped from a secret house in Sai Mai and approached immigration officers with photographs and chat records.
The raid was ordered by national police chief Pol Gen Samran Nuamma and led by Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Noppasin Poonsawat. The three properties searched were reported to be worth between 30 million and 40 million baht. Ten Chinese nationals, three Thais and one Myanmar national were detained, and police seized more than 200 items believed to be linked to the alleged offences, along with an unspecified amount of cash.
According to Noppasin, Liu said he had been made to contact fellow Chinese nationals and persuade them to take part in product-review tasks and schemes to inflate online viewing figures. Victims were then allegedly encouraged to transfer increasing sums of money before the operators disappeared with the funds. Chinese workers at the property were made to work 12-hour shifts under close supervision, and were also allegedly required to maintain the back-end systems of an online gambling website. Liu said he decided to escape in September after hearing supervisors discuss moving the operation to Cambodia because of intensified Thai enforcement.
An initial examination of seized electronic devices found possible links to a major Chinese online gambling site known as HGA, or the Hongguan network, police said. Investigators are now reviewing user information, phone numbers, associated accounts and financial trails to establish how each device was used and each suspect's role.
Police said checks with Chinese authorities identified at least two key suspects: one Chinese national, identified as Fu, was found to have information indicating an arrest warrant in China in connection with online gambling, though Thai officers said they were still verifying the warrant's status. Another suspect, Han, is wanted in Thailand in a drug case involving ketamine; the matter is before the courts, he had been released on bail, and immigration checks found he had allegedly overstayed his permission to stay in Thailand by more than 1,200 days.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：泰国曼谷城市天际线（资料图）。照片：Mathias Krumbholz，CC BY-SA 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Bangkok skyline, Thailand (file photo). Photo: Mathias Krumbholz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
