Crime

Thailand’s Tourism in Jeopardy After Tourists Killed in Bangkok Mall Shooting

Published

1 year ago

October 4, 2023

Bchcomber

Thailand's Tourism in Jeopardy After 2 Tourists Killed Bangkok Mall Shooting

A 14-year-old boy has been remanded to a juvenile detention institute for psychiatric evaluation after being charged with murder and other offences in connection with the shootings at Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok, Thailand.

On Wednesday, a day after a shooting spree at a Bangkok shopping mall left two people dead and five more wounded, the kid appeared in Juvenile Court under heavy police protection and with his face masked to protect his identity.

Due to the lack of evidence, the court ruled against transferring the suspect to a mental hospital. Tuesday’s arresting officers claimed he was too “confused” to provide a clear account of what happened and that he claimed to have heard voices urging him to kill people.

Police have initially charged the teen with five crimes: first-degree murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, unlawful carrying of a weapon, and discharging a firearm in a public place.

Metropolitan Police Division 6 Commander Pol Maj Gen Nakharin Sukhonthawit has stated that additional charges may be filed at a later date.

He also mentioned that investigators were thinking about filing Child Protection Act charges against the boy’s parents.

He stated that the suspect’s room at the Lak Song area residence had yielded a BB gun and numerous shells. The detectives would treat that as a separate investigation.

Bangkok Thailand siam paragon

Mother of Twins Killed

After a teenage shooter went on a shooting spree inside Siam Paragon in Pathumwan district just before evening rush hours on Tuesday, police quickly located and apprehended the suspect.

A Chinese mother of twins, 34, who was shopping at the mall with her daughters and a young Myanmarese employee were both slain. Two of the five people injured were in critical condition; three Thais, a Chinese, and a Laotian. People panicked and ran out of the mall.

On Wednesday, the head of the Department of Medical Services, Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, claimed that the juvenile suspect had been treated at the children’s hospital, The Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, around a year ago. He would not elaborate, citing patient privacy concerns. He also mentioned that the youngster may have gone to other medical facilities for help.

Dr. Thongchai was addressing rumours that the suspect had received mental health care at Rajavithi Hospital in the past.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin promised “preventive measures” in the wake of the mall shooting.

Bangkok Shooting Damaged Tourism

Analysts say the massacre at Siam Paragon compounds the negative effects of rising interest rates and concerns about government expenditures, which have already damaged Thai assets and dampened expectations for the country’s economic recovery.

As investors considered the potential for a negative reaction to the incident from China, the country’s largest source of visitors, tourism stocks dropped 1.6% shortly after the Stock Exchange of Thailand opened on Wednesday, before gradually recovering.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavasin promised to increase preventative steps to safeguard tourists. Even before Tuesday’s killing, which killed a Chinese woman who was visiting Siam Paragon with her two young daughters, this was a major fear of Chinese tourists. A young Myanmarese mall worker was the other victim.

On Wednesday, the SET Index dropped to a low of 1,431.96 before gradually rising again. A stronger dollar has pushed the baht to an 11-month low above 37 to the US dollar, while the benchmark index is at its lowest since January 2021.

About 60 billion baht has left the Thai stock and bond markets since the beginning of September, and the selling pressure from abroad reached a climax last week when the country unexpectedly raised interest rates. So far this year, foreign investors have been net sellers of 162 billion baht on the SET.

Siam Paragon Bangkok Shooting

Restore tourist confidence

Investors are concerned about how much additional debt the new Pheu Thai government can take on in light of its large fiscal spending plans. According to LSEG statistics, rates on Thai 10-year government bonds have risen by 75 basis points in just over three weeks, a higher increase than that seen in US Treasuries.

The Thai bond market has relatively low liquidity and is experiencing consistent selling. Toreck Horchani, head of prime brokerage dealing at Maybank Securities in Singapore, has commented on the current market conditions, noting that bid/offer spreads are high and that it is impossible to get anything done.

“The market was expecting no hike,” he explained.

Last week, the Bank of Thailand unexpectedly increased interest rates, citing an expected uptick in growth and inflation. This could pave the way for further increases. It is worried that government expenditure will lead to higher prices.

Since then, shares have dropped sharply, falling by more than 8% since August’s end. This decline is more severe than the 5% drop in the MSCI Emerging Markets Asia index during the same time period. The region’s largest equities outflows in September were from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Despite government promises to restore tourist confidence in the wake of Tuesday’s massacre, investors dropped shares in Central Plaza Hotel and Airports of Thailand early Wednesday, sending the latter to a seven-month low.

Normally, a rise in interest rates would strengthen the baht, but the recent increase in US interest rates, along with a selloff in global bonds, has caused the baht to fall by more than 2% against the dollar in only the past week.

Digital wallet scheme

Chintana Kittiviboolmas, UOB’s head of global markets in Thailand, blamed “aggressive offshore buying (of dollars)” for the situation, with rising fresh worries about the government’s financial strategy adding to the strain.

The Pheu Thai government is still figuring out the specifics of how they would pay for Mr. Srettha’s pledge to pump 560 billion baht into the economy through a digital wallet scheme in the coming year.

The proposals, which include subsidies for gasoline and agriculture, seem at contrast with the central bank’s efforts to curb inflation, and investors are worried about the prospect of increased supply in a declining bond market.

“In this backdrop there needs to be much greater (not less) monetary and fiscal coordination,” Aninda Mitra, head of Asia macro and investment strategy at BNY Mellon Investment Management, said. “The sell-off in the baht appears to be the casualty of the market sensing this policy disconnect.”

Positive growth projections and expectations for the tourism industry’s revival are still present.

The head of macro strategy and Asia-Pacific developing markets research at BNP Paribas in Singapore, Siddharth Mathur, is a baht bull who thinks there are concerns in the medium term.

Despite anticipation of a large influx of Chinese travellers for the Golden Week holiday, Mathur added, “the seasonal improvement in tourism is not due until November.”

We anticipate a smaller increase in the current account surplus due to increased energy import prices and government spending plans, he said. That, in turn, makes the Thai baht vulnerable to the overall strength of the US dollar.

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.