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The Farang who Lied to get Laid and the Woes of Thai Women – Andrew Biggs

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Thidarat Chaisiri submitted a letter to Chiang Mai Araya Group secretary Nathee Teerarojjanapongs, aka Gay Nathee, requesting that the group help her press charges against an American man who she claimed had taken advantage of her sexually.

 

It’s a bad month to be male and Caucasian in the Land Of Smiles _ and we can thank an American called James Dean? for that.

A firestorm erupted in the Thai media, with one story gripping the nation for almost an entire day, which is an eternity in these modern viral here today, gone tomorrow times.

The Western media thrives on storms that erupt in teacups but in Thailand we don’t have teacups. We like our storms in shot glasses or, better still, thimbles.

James Dean, a 49-year-old businessman who claimed to own a elementary school in the United States?

One Wednesday afternoon a group that preserves northern Thai culture called Chiang Mai Araya braved the blistering heat and staged a protest outside the US consul in that city, demanding justice and ”protection for Thai women against scheming foreign males”.

”Foreign males” _ those were my words. They used that cold, nasty, brush-off of a word both vocally and on placards: farang.

Oh dear. So what have we done this time?

Well I know this may be hard to believe, but it appears an American has come to Thailand with the intent of having sex with more than one woman.

Well, I never! He did what? With how many? This is preposterous and unacceptable in the eyes of Chiang Mai Araya, which for brevity’s sake I shall henceforth refer to as CMA, and please don’t confuse them with accountants or country music.

The perpetrator’s first name is James.

I can’t think of any Westerner I know whose first name is James other than the current Australian ambassador to Thailand, but we Aussies are staying right out of this one so no pointing the finger in this direction, CMA.

Besides, unless you are an ambassador the average Australian would never refer to himself as ”James Dean” _ he’d be ”Jim” or ”Jimmy” or ”Blue” if he’d been born with red hair.

So this American James had sexual relations with more than one woman _ something the Culture Ministry frowns on in this country, primarily for fear the other guy might be better in bed. He did so after placing an ad in a newspaper claiming he was looking for a woman to marry.

Women came running, including one by the name of Thidarat Chaisiri who must have imagined having a foreign husband would be an answer to all her woes.

James and Thidarat Chaisiri dated twice before he ditched her, though he did manage to exercise his conjugal rights prematurely on both occasions.

If only James had been a part of my childhood when my mother would say: ”Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.”

(For the first 18 years of my life I thought my mother was an undiscovered literary genius, uttering such lines while making shepherd’s pie in our Sunnybank kitchen, until I studied the works of Sir Walter Scott at university and got a rude shock.)

Well you can look at it one or two ways: either James was an evil schemer, or Thidarat simply wasn’t wife material.

Let’s be kind this Sunday morning and assume the former, since Thidarat has already been through the mill.

After being jilted she went to the Chiang Mai police, but the cops, being males themselves, took no action.

Poor Thidarat’s next stop was the CMA, and so, on a hot Wednesday afternoon, defiant Thidarat held up a hand-made sign alongside the CMA leader as he shouted obscenities through a megaphone at the walls of the US consul.

You know how Thais really like us? Just wait until a character like this James steps out of line. Suddenly the whole country is down on us like a tonne of bricks.

James ”destroyed the dignity of Thidarat and in doing so destroyed the dignity of every Thai woman, especially ones in Chiang Mai,” the CMA leader blasted out, full of sound and fury.

Next to him Thidarat’s sign said: ”Stop Foreign Sex Maniacs Molesting Our Thai Women!” So, like, it’s OK to molest our Thai men?

Grin and bear it, guys. It’ll be over before you know it.

Just keep silent about this whole story in order not to fuel the fire. In particular, do not, under any circumstances, exacerbate things by highlighting any of the five following points:

1. Thidarat is almost 40 years old. Doesn’t she know about men regardless of race? Where has she been _ hiding under a Chiang Mai rock? If she’s been under any kind of heavy object (other than that American), it certainly wouldn’t have been in Chiang Mai. Why?

2. Thidarat isn’t from Chiang Mai. She’s an Isan girl! She hopped a bus from Nakhon Ratchasima in the Northeast and travelled the 775km to Chiang Mai to meet this guy. Is anybody’s dignity intact after such a long haul?

3. The ”protest” outside the US consul was hardly Sanam Luang-esque. I counted seven people _ it is perhaps time for the CMA to do a membership drive. But as we guys keep telling ourselves, size isn’t everything and that includes protest groups.

4. James certainly didn’t force himself on Thidarat. Our ”victim” met him, had dinner with him, drank wine with him, and when James invited her back to his condo, she said ”OK.” One thing led to another. And if that’s not enough:

5. The event detailed above happened not once, but twice. We gotta find that person running around Chiang Mai twisting the arms of innocent girls and forcing them back to James’ place for round two!

James has since flown the coop. Reporters went to his condo complex and the security guard downstairs revealed that Thidarat wasn’t the only one who’d willingly come to his condo. James’ condo was a modern day Kinsey Institute test room.

Evil, evil James.

Guys, we can learn a valuable lesson from this story, and I don’t mean to give the security guard at your condo a bottle of whiskey and a HUGE tip every New Year to ensure his silence.

Rather, it shows how little it takes for the Thais to turn on us.

There was a blip of genuine rage there this week. The knee-jerk reaction from the locals was understandable: innocent Thai women being tricked by slick-talking foreigners on their own turf.

That doesn’t go down well with either gender; Thai women are unhappy having been duped, and Thai men are unhappy having competition.

Still, we are guests in this country and we should always give the local people dignity and respect.

So guys, it might be a good idea to be a little more, ah, monogamous just until this all blows over. Don’t roll your eyes like that; it’s only for a few days.

As for Thidarat, she needs to cut her losses and make the long trek back home.

If I were to share the bus seat with her I would explain that being married to one of us is not that big a deal as she thinks it is. Men are men, all the world over. We do and say anything to score, including promises of marriage.

Like Thais who marry Thais, there are those who enjoy happy marriages with foreigners.

But there are a lot of women who soon realise we are exactly like our Thai brethren. This is especially the case in marriages that are rushed into, or are borne of newspaper advertisements. Such marriages inevitably end in tears _ or the popular alternative that involves a brother, a blunt object and some quicklime.

Be happy, Thidarat. Be single and happy. And James? Get the hell home. – Writer: Andrew Biggs

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

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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.

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/

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Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourists Over Home Invasions

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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

 

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Son of Thailand’s Leading Legal Scholar on Corruption Arrested for Running Online Gambling Network

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thailand, 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.

Thailand’s Cyber Crime Police Raid Top Cops Home Over Gambling Websites

Thailand’s Cyber Crime Police Raid Top Cops Home Over Gambling Websites

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