Crime

Australian Faces Eviction from Phuket Dream Home

Published

10 years ago

November 26, 2014

Bchcomber

Melbourne retiree Daryl Davies outside the Chom Tawan residential development on Phuket’s west coast. He and other buyers face eviction

PHUKET – Daryl Davies from Melbourne knew when he saw the luxurious homes set amid eight tropical acres with stunning sea views that this is where he wanted to spend his retirement years.

“They are absolutely delightful,” says 70-year-old Mr Davies, referring to a $30 million development on the pristine west coast of the Thai resort island of Phuket.

Mr Davies, a retired commercial pilot, paid the equivalent of about $500,000 in Thai baht for his dream three-bedroom home in Chom Tawan, one of the most prestigious residential developments on Phuket.

Another property on the Chom Tawan development in Phuket. Photo: www.tawanproperties.com

But a Thai court has authorized an auction of the homes of Mr Davies and more than 40 other buyers to the highest bidder if millions of dollars owed to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) by the project developer are not repaid by a December 17 deadline.

The plight of the buyers, many of whom have been living in the homes since they were completed seven years ago, illustrates the risks foreigners face buying real estate in Thailand, one of the most popular destinations for retiring Australians.

Mr Davies and other buyers, including five Australian families, believed they were covering all bases before paying for what were promised to be effectively 90-year leasehold titles for the homes, including hiring lawyers to do due diligence on the property.

“We never for one moment thought there would be a problem,” says Mr Davies, who is married to a Thai.

Two years ago buyers awoke to find notices pinned to their doors declaring that a Thai manufacturer had not been paid for supplying appliances to the development.

“We were shocked. We started investigating what had happened but it only got worse, much worse,” Mr Davies said.

Napawan Asia Limited, the developer of the Chom Tawan residential estate, owes millions to the Industrial Commercial Bank of China. Photo: www.tawanproperties.com

The developer, Napawan Asia Limited, had promised that buyers who paid upfront for their houses would receive titles reflecting their freehold/leasehold ownership once the development was registered with Phuket’s land department.

“The company kept telling us everything is going nicely. It’s happening, don’t worry. But it went on and on,” Mr Davies said.

Catherine Gathani, a buyer from Hong Kong, said she was aware when finalizing the contract for her home there was a mortgage on the land but Napawan Asia told her “this would be paid down as the buyers’ stage payments were made, so that by the time the project was complete the mortgage would be fully paid”.

She said buyers only discovered several years later the company had not repaid the original mortgage and that it had given the titles of the buildings to the bank as part of a debt restructuring or remortgaging arrangement.

Andrew Street, the British developer behind Napawan Asia, admits the company was “over-extended commercially at the commencement of the global financial crisis”, which he says had a significant impact on Phuket.

Mr Street, who has returned to live in Britain, told the Sydney Morning Herald “I have remained and still intend to deliver all that the buyers require”.

“Within weeks of this date there will be firm plans to bring this debt restructuring to a conclusion,” he said. “All parties are involved in producing an agreement to achieve the buyers’ requirements relating to ownership . . . we are at the final negotiations of all matters with the bank, buyers and suppliers to conclude this matter.”

But Mr Davies said attempts over recent months for a settlement between ICBC, the buyers and Napawan Asia have collapsed in acrimony.

Under one proposal discussed by ICBC in October, the buyers would be forced to pay almost $200,000 more than their original purchase price in exchange for the bank releasing the mortgage.

The development builder is also owed several million dollars, complicating any settlement.

Mr Davies described the proposal as a “bridge too far” for the buyers.

“Many of the investors are retirees who face losing most or all of their life’s savings. It is an appalling situation to be in,” he said. “We fear that one day soon we will all gets knocks our doors and be told to leave our homes.”

Mr Street, who bought a $1 million house in the English Midlands in August 2013 after leaving Phuket, said “certain people” have tried to personalize the issue and derail any settlement amid a myriad of legal claims and counter-claims.

“It is not in the interest of all parties concerned for me to return to Thailand whilst in the final steps of the debt workout,” he said.

As the auction deadline nears, buyers desperate to keep their houses have asked Thailand’s military rulers to intervene in the case and have taken urgent legal action to try to head off the sale of their houses.

Mr Davies said the buyers he is speaking for have not given up hope of keeping their homes “but our position looks dire”.

He said the buyers decided to speak publicly about their plight to warn others who may be considering investing in Thai real estate.

By Lindsay Murdoch

Crime

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

Published

4 months ago

July 20, 2024

Thomas3940

Police Officer Being Ordained at Temple Arrested

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

Published

4 months ago

July 20, 2024

Thomas3940

Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourist

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

Published

4 months ago

July 17, 2024

Thomas3940

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.