Crime

5 Injured, 3 Dead in Multiple Shootings in Central Thailand

Shooting Rampage in Phetchaburi Thailand

A gunman who opened fire on a car in Pattaya, injuring two women, on Friday afternoon, Nopporn “Benz” Inpom, 29, was apprehended at a house in Thailand’s Chonburi Province. Police seized a Honda Jazz with and a 9mm handgun from the suspect, according to Pattaya police.

The suspect was being transported to the Pattaya police station to face charges in connection with the crime.

In the early hours of Friday, a Thai woman and a Chinese woman were shot at their car in the resort city. Police believe they were unfairly targeted.

According to Police, who was alerted around 2.10 a.m., the attack occurred at the entrance of Soi Chalernprakiat 4/1 in the Bang Lamung district of Pattaya Chonburi.

When police and forensic officers arrived, they discovered a black Mercedes-Benz with Bangkok license plates parked nearby, with bullet traces on its doors, side mirrors, and body. The officers also discovered bloodstains inside the car and on the road.

Six cartridges and a bullet were also discovered inside the vehicle. Before the officers arrived, the two injured women were taken to Pattaya Memorial Hospital. One of the victims, Nippawan Wola, 26, was shot in both cheeks, while the other, Li Xinying, 24, was shot in the left wrist.

Employees at the nearby Ying Club told police that a group of teenagers had a fight with some South Korean tourists inside the venue prior to the shooting. During the altercation, the employees had intervened.

After the pub closed around 2 a.m., a car carrying the Koreans involved in the fight and another car carrying the two women left in separate directions. The teenagers then drove away in the same direction as the victims’ vehicle. Following that, several rounds of gunfire were heard.

The attackers may have mistakenly targeted the victims’ car, according to police. Officers worked in groups to examine surveillance video to find the vehicle used by the suspected shooter.

Shooting Rampage in Phetchaburi Thailand

A man who went on a shooting rampage at a housing estate in Muang district of Phetchaburi province in central Thailand on Wednesday, killing three people and injuring three others, including a police officer, was killed in a police shoot-out early yesterday, ending a 15-hour standoff.

Mr. Anuwat Laemthong, 29, began shooting indiscriminately from a two-story house in the Krungphet Villa housing estate in tambon Ton Mamuang around 1.37pm on Wednesday.

Around 100 special operations police officers surrounded the house and attempted to persuade the gunman to surrender.

Police brought his mother to the house around 7 p.m. to help him surrender. He refused and only shot occasionally.

Three men had been killed and three others had been injured by that point. Pasit Em-oth, 22, and Rathakorn Thongkaew, 22, were both fourth-year Phetchaburi Rajabhat University students who arrived at the house on a motorcycle. Sirapat Wattana, 27, a truck driver from tambon Pho Phra, was the third.

Pol Sub Lt Kanoksak Muthakan, chair of the Ton Mamuang TAO, was hit when he arrived to negotiate with Anuwat; Pol Lt Somchai Yaemyuan, a special operations officer, was hit in the cheek; and Krisda Sritha, 35, was driving by on his way home.

At 3:33 a.m. yesterday, police commandos stormed the house, sparking an exchange of gunfire. At 3.47 a.m., Anuwat was shot dead on the second floor, bringing the 15-hour standoff to an end. He was found to be in possession of a 9mm pistol.

The families of those killed in the incident, according to Governor Nathachai Nampoolsuksawat, are entitled to compensation.

Anuwat worked as a forest ranger at Thap Lan National Park for six months in 2020, according to Provincial Police Chief Pol Maj Gen Piti Naruekhatpichai, and his work contract was not extended.

He stated that Anuwat was charged in a case in November. He had previously appeared in the Phetchaburi Court twice. A third hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, but Anuwat and a man on the opposing side did not show up.

Meanwhile, Rathakorn’s father, Suvit Thongkaew, demanded justice for his son, claiming that he could have been saved.

“My son was reportedly shot in the afternoon,” he said, believing he was still alive after being shot. My son might not have died if he had received assistance.”

Crime

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

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

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.