Crime
Opposition MP in Thailand Gets 2-Year Prison Sentence for Defaming Monarchy
A Criminal Court in Thailand has sentenced Move Forward Party Member of Parliament to 2-years in prison for royal defamation under Article 112 of the Criminal Code. Chonthicha Jaengraew, 31, is an MP the Pathum Thani constituency and a pop star.
The court’s decision, read aloud on Monday morning, gave her a three-year sentence but then lowered it to two years with no suspension. Court documents show that another case of violating the emergency injunction on public meetings has been abandoned.
On September 11, 2021, she and nine other activists protested in front of the Thanyaburi district court in Pathum Thani, seeking the release of political prisoners.
Ms. Chonthich promptly asked for and was granted bail to challenge the case in the Appellate Court, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. Throughout the court struggle, she keeps her MP position.
Before approaching the courtroom, Move Forward leader Chaithawat Tulathon expressed his hope that if she was found guilty, the judge would grant her bail.
Ms Chonthicha is one of three MPs from the main opposition party facing lese majeste accusations under Section 112 of the Criminal Code.
Bangkok MP Rukchanok Srinork was sentenced in December 2023 to six years in prison without parole for lese-majeste and computer crime in connection with online comments she made between July 18 and August 9, 2021. She is currently free on bail pending her appeal.
Chai-amorn Kaewwiboonpan, right, and Thanaphat Kapheng arrive at the Criminal Court: Post Image
Two Jailed for Burning King of Thailand portrait
On Monday, the Criminal Court sentenced musician Chai-amorn Kaewwiboonpan, or “Ammy The Bottom Blues,” to four years in prison and his accomplice to one year for burning His Majesty the King’s portrait and posting a video of it in 2021.
The penalties were not suspended. Both men then requested for bail pending their appeal. Their requests were being examined.
On the night of February 28, 2021, public prosecutors charged Chai-amorn and Thanaphat Kapheng with pouring kerosene on a painting of His Majesty the King in front of the Klongprem Central Prison in Chatuchak District. They then lit it alight.
Later, Chai-amorn shared a video of the incident on his public Facebook page, The Bottom Blues.
The Criminal Court disregarded the men’s claim that they had no ill will toward the king and were simply expressing support for their appeal for the freedom of fellow activist Parit Chiwarak, aka Penguin, who is facing numerous accusations, including suspected lese majeste and sedition.
The court stated that there were plenty other ways they may have demonstrated support for their cause. According to the court, defence witnesses testified that Chai-amorn, Thanaphat, and Parit advocated for royal institution reforms.
The court stated that Chai-amorn and Thanaphat’s burning of the king’s image constituted a threat that dishonoured and disgraced His Majesty the King.
Chai-amorn, 34, was convicted guilty of lese majeste and computer crime for his online message, which posed a threat to national security.
The court first put the prison term for each offence at three years, but sentenced him to six years in prison. He confessed, thus the sentence was reduced to four years.
Thanaphat was found guilty of lese majeste and sentenced to one year and six months in prison because he was only 18 at the time of the offense. His punishment was reduced to one year because he confessed.
Thailand’s royal defamation law, also known as Lese Majeste, protects the country’s all-powerful monarchy against criticism and is based on Article 112 of the penal code.
Critics of the law claim it is regularly used to suppress dissent.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, an advocacy group, reported that at least 1,954 persons have been prosecuted in 1,295 cases involving protests or political expression since mid-2020. More than 270 people are facing accusations under Article 112.
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.
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/
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.
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