Crime

Bangkok Post Article about Wrong-Behaving Foreigner in a Temple inflames the Web

Published

12 years ago

January 8, 2013

Bchcomber

tourist being taken with a Buddha picture shows the difficulty to deal sometimes with massive tourism. The offensive picture prompted many comments from readers, however not in the way the Bangkok Post probably wanted.

AYUTTHAYA– A foreign young woman posing in a picture over a Buddha statue with its missing head became an entire article for the Bangkok Post last Friday to show that tourists do not behave always properly. This is true that many people when on the move do not always have the right behaviour. But more than a provocative gesture, misbehavior is mostly due to a lack of knowledge about local customs, if not just stupidity.

The Bangkok Post first titled that “A photograph of a female tourist posing with a Buddha statue at Srisanpetch Temple in Ayutthaya province has offended Thais and has sparked several discussions on the internet”.

The newspaper went on by indicating that the foreign woman positioned her head and arm in the same spots as the statue’s missing parts, ignoring signages posted at the temple entrance in Ayutthaya which informs about the proper conduct and behaviour in front of a religious image.

The newspaper reported that “a Thai tourist said he saw the incident during his New Year holiday trip to Ayutthaya. The man said he had seen travellers taking inappropriate photographs on other occasions as well.

“A person should learn about the tradition and culture of a place before travelling to it,” one person wrote in an online discussion.

“Some foreigners do not know our traditions and culture. The supervisors are the ones to blame because it is their job to inform the tourists of the regulations,” said another online comment.

A first question to be asked indeed is where stood the security? According to the newspaper, a security officer declared that the temple’s staff were unable to fully monitor all tourists because of the heavy influx of visitors during the New Year. Normally, the officer said, staff would warn visitors about inappropriate pictures and ask them to immediately delete them from their cameras or phones.

It is true that Thai are particularly sensitive about their culture protection. But at the same time, they allow many digressions over their own identity and culture without being really chocked. The worst example was probably given with the US movie “Hang-over 2” which took place in Thailand. This rather dull US comedy showed the worst of what could be imagined in terms of image for Thailand: monkeys, smoking drugs, local people playing illegal games and cutting a finger for fun, robberies, prostitutes, etc… etc… All the negative cliches about Thailand were there. But the government –so prompt generally to defend the incomprehensible value behind the term ‘Thainess’- had this time nothing to complaint about. Of course, the movie generated so much money and buzz around the world that it probably succeed to kill any local resentment.

This is the application of double-standards about what can be tolerated or what cannot be accepted which draw dozens of comments on the website of the Bangkok Post, following the article. Most of the readers denounced the fact that newspapers and authorities should better concentrate over tourists being scammed or killed in Thailand rather than on a picture, as stupid as the behavior of this girl could have been.

Said one comment: “Billions upon billions of baht tourists bring to this country every year. They provide thousands of jobs direct and indirectly. Be gentle with your golden egg-laying goose. Because worrying more about an innocent picture then, for example raped, shot, robbed and/or stabbed tourists (all example can be found in the last week), might scare that goose away”.

Said a Japanese reader: “ How very Thai! You can charge foreigners double to visit the temple but then complain when they do something that is not acceptable for Thais, who by the way, do not follow the Dharma especially young ones. I have visited many temples where Thai women are in shorts or short skirts and are taking their temporary “boyfriends” for a visit. Thailand is a country of absolute double standards – whether it would be morals, ethics, politics, relationships or business”.

Most of the comments are in the same ton, except two over a total of 20 on Friday night. With all the current issues raised recently in newspapers or social media about negative experiences in Thailand for some tourists –only some of them-, the necessity to redefine relations between foreign travelers and locals as well as finding the right balance between a tourist-oriented economy and the reality of daily life seems an absolute necessity. – Luc Citrinot

Crime

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

Published

6 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

6 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

6 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.