Crime

Thailand’s Deputy Tourist Police Chief Says Police Have Found No Evidence to Substantiate Rape Claim of 19 Year-old British Woman

Published

6 years ago

August 30, 2018

Bchcomber

BANGKOK – Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy tourist police chief, told Thai News Agency in Bangkok on Thursday that a team of over a 100 policemen from Bangkok have found no evidence or witnesses at this stage indicating a rape or drugging took place on Koh Tao as claimed by a British woman.

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, said provincial police in Surat Thani are still working on the case even though no complaint had yet been officially filed. They also said the mother of the 19-year-old woman would fly to Thailand next month to file an official complaint.

“According to forensic and scientific evidence we collected based on the woman’s account, we found no rape or drugging had taken place,” said Pol Maj Gen Surachate, who was assigned by the police chief to look into the allegation.

Surat Thani interrogators collect evidence and witnesses related to the alleged rape case in June on Koh Tao island on Thursday. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)

“The woman claimed she drank on Sairee beach in front of the Leo pub on the night in question [June 25]. We found it was a day before the full moon and the tide was high as usual on that day. Seawater flooded the beach and almost entered the pub so it was impossible for anyone to eat or drink on the beach that night.

“Moreover, World Cup matches were also being broadcast at the time and there were a lot of people, as well as police, in the area. It was quite impossible for someone to carry an unconscious woman and waded through the water to rape her behind rocks without anyone noticing,” he said.

He added police also did not find semen traces on the rocks or in the rooms where the damaged party and her friends were staying.

“However, we’re open to new evidence. Since the victim has not even contacted the UK consul in Thailand which is in charge of the safety of British nationals in the kingdom, we urge her to submit the evidence and give statements so we can investigate further. We’re even willing to take her statements in the UK if she doesn’t feel safe here.”

The police also asked the consul to help coordinate with the victim to bring them the evidence so they could take further action.

If the case turns out to be groundless, the Samui Times news website and CSI LA Facebook might face computer crime charges for spreading false information, he added.

Provincial police said on Thursday the mother of the British woman was en route to the island and her daughter might follow suit to file an official complaint within a deadline late next month

‘The Hive’ hostel owner Pattara Jamtrakul, 32, (in white shirt) leads police along the Koh Tao beach where a British teenage backpacker says she was raped. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)

Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj, chief of Surat Thani police, said the mother already contacted the British embassy in Thailand to arrange for her visit to Koh Tao.

The provincial police commander also said that more interrogators in the southern province were deployed to verify the young woman’s report and to answer questions, especially those from the mother.

Interrogators were combing through the route from the young woman’s hostel to Sairee beach. The police officers were collecting evidence and talking to potential witnesses along the route on which the young woman bought a drink from a vendor’s vehicle, Pol Maj Gen Apichart said.

He said there were four surveillance cameras of Surat Thani police on Sairee beach and their stored recordings dated from as long as three months. Police were examining the footage.

Pol Maj Gen Apichart said that the young woman should return by herself to file an official complaint and her presence could facilitate the investigation.

Pol Lt Gen Sorasak Yenprem, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 8, said that in the case the young British woman had three months to file her complaint on the alleged rape and the deadline was Sept 25.

Koh Tao police already informed her through the British embassy of the deadline and their intention to question her and have local doctors examine her in Thailand.

If the woman was unable to arrive within the deadline, she could ask the embassy to file a complaint on her behalf before the deadline.

Pol Lt Gen Sorasak said it was impossible for police on Koh Phangan to reject her rape complaint. They would otherwise be harshly punished for the refusal, he said.

It was earlier reported that the woman did not file her rape complaint right away with Koh Tao police because she was rushing to Koh Phangan to meet her boyfriend who was arriving for a full moon party.

By Supapong Chaolan
Bangkok Post

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.