Crime

Police Find Woman and Her 8-Year-Old Son Beaten to Death

Published

2 years ago

April 12, 2023

Bchcomber

Police report a woman and her 8-year-old son were found battered to death in a rented room in Muang district of northern Thailand’s Lamphun province. Authorities suspecting her missing husband.

The woman and her son were discovered murdered in a rented room and reported to police about 7.15 p.m. on Monday. Both victims had severe injuries and had been beaten on the head and body and were found dead lying on the bed.

According to investigators, a 38-year-old Myanmar man named only as Thun booked the room in mid-January with his wife Thor and her son from a previous marriage. The couple was employed on a construction site in the Pa Sang district of Lamphun.

Last Friday, the her husband was last seen driving away in a car, telling neighbours he was sending his wife to Chiang Mai’s Fang area. He hadn’t been seen by neighbours since.

On Monday, the occupant of a next room complained of a foul scent emanating from the couple’s chamber, as well as several flies outside the door and called 911. Police said they have launched a nationwide manhunt for the missing husband.

Police chief transferred over murders

Meanwhile, a police chief has been reassigned awaiting an investigation into the murderous attack on a family’s home on Saturday by three gunmen headed by an officer under his authority, deputy national police commander Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said.

Four persons were involved in the incident, three of them stormed the house, equipped with two M16 rifles and a 9mm pistol, the other drove the getaway vehicle from the house.

Mr. Thammarong Nilniyom, the house owner, his wife Nilthip Palakachen, Pornsak Phetchu, and one of the gunmen were killed. Police believe the gunman was shot dead by one of the victims, who retaliated.

The Surat Thani Court in southern Thailand issued arrest warrants for Police Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and Mr Manop Wang-ngan on murder allegations.

On Sunday night, Atthapol, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s son by a former wife, was found dead in a car parked inside a temple in Ban Takhun district where funeral rites for Thammarat were being held. His hands were tied and he was shot in the right temple.

On Monday morning, Panida Nilniyom, Thammarong’s only daughter and Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s wife, was found dead at a resort in tambon Tha Khanon, Khirirat Nakhom district. She was shot in the mouth.

Police Officer Allegedly Guns Down Four People with M16

On Monday afternoon, Mr Manop, one of the two prime suspects, was arrested in Thap Put district, Phang-nga province. Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn remained at large on Tuesday morning.

Pol Gen Surachate said Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn had fled with an M16 rifle and a 9mm pistol. He was armed and dangerous.

He had ordered Khirirat Nikhom police station to report to him about the distribution of weapons since the two M16s reportedly used in Saturday’s attack might belong to the station.

Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomchit, the Provincial Police Region 8 commissioner, had issued an order transferring Pol Col Kriangkrai Ketkaew, the Khirirat Nikhom police chief, to assist at the Region 8 operations centre, pending an investigation into Saturday’s attack and the deaths of the six people.

Pol Gen Surachate said Thammarong had previously been shot and wounded by an assailant using a military-grade weapon on Dec 31, 2022, but police did not investigate the incident.

The investigation panel would find out whether it was related to Saturday’s attack, he said.

In Bangkok, national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas on Monday night confirmed the arrest of Mr Manop in Phang-nga province.

From evidence in hand, forensic examination of those killed and the timeline, it was initially believed Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn killed his wife Panida at the resort before going with the three other suspects to the house in Khirirat Nikhom district where four people were killed, he said.

A feud between Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and his father-in-law Thammarong might be the motive for the attack, he said.

Crime

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

Published

7 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

7 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

7 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.