Updated at 12.55 a.m.
A RAID on a luxury pool villa in Bang Lamung district of Chonburi today (June 21) led to the arrest of 20 South Korean men and just one Chinese man on the charges of running a financial and romance scam operation, Thai Rath newspaper said this evening.
A team of Tourist, Immigration and Bang Lamung station policemen raided this villa after the South Korean embassy said a citizen had asked for help as his son had been kidnapped and was being held in Chonburi-Pattaya area.
The alleged kidnap victim had called his father and told him that he had been conned into working for a call centre gang in Thailand and it seems he pressured his father to transfer some money. However his father was afraid of being scammed so contacted the South Korean embassy in Thailand for help. This then led to today’s raid.
When they arrived, they found the South Koreans sitting in front of their computers and working. They immediately split up and ran in different directions with some jumping from the second floor and got injured but police were able to catch all of them – totalling 20 South Korean men and one Chinese man.
Police also found the South Korean man who claimed he was kidnapped among them. The South Korean embassy has been informed that he has been found.
The South Koreans told police they were running a lending business in South Korea with Thailand being their headquarters for coordination. Police are preparing to press charges of illegally working in Thailand and being part of a gang.
Seized were 30 computers and laptops, 40 mobile phones for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls and two Internet routers. They were sent to Chonburi Forensic Science Division 2 to examine DNA and fingerprints for use in the case.
All of them came to Thailand on tourist visas and none had overstayed but four of them had slipped into Thailand illegally.
Police believe that the gang recently moved their base here from elsewhere, possibly the Thai-Cambodian border after tension between the two countries flared up.
CAPTION:
The South Korean men and sole Chinese man upon being arrested at a pool villa in Chonburi today, June 21, 2025. Photos: Amarin TV
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