A THAI man who headed a gang of Thai scammers working at a Chinese-owned fraud factory in Cambodia was arrested after he fled the ongoing battle at the Thai-Cambodian border to his hometown in Nan province, TV Channel 7 said this evening (Dec. 19).
Mr. Pornthep (surname withheld), 36, was wanted under an arrest warrant issued in October last year on charges of money laundering, jointly defrauding the public, causing damage to others by uploading false or misleading information to the computer system and participating in a transnational organised crime syndicate.
This gang of Thai scammers had at around the end of 2023 started using international phone numbers to contact their victims posing as government officials and conned them into believing that their bank accounts were linked to criminal activity and demanded cash transfers for verification. They even conducted video calls posing as police officers, leading to the victims believing they were legitimate.
However one of their victims filed a complaint at the Online Crime Suppression Centre that he had been swindled 19 times losing a total of 927,982 baht.
Investigation revealed connection with a transnational scam gang in the neighbouring country and subsequently arrest warrants were issued for 14 suspects. Twelve of them were rounded up in a sweep of nine locations nationwide on Sept. 24, 2024.
One of the suspects identified Pornthep as their leader and although an arrest warrant was issued for him too he eluded capture by slipping in and out Thailand and Cambodia via natural crossings.
This suspect also revealed that they had voluntarily joined the scam gang and worked in a multi-storey building in the neighbouring country with each floor divided into several rooms, each housing a different type of scam.
A Chinese man was in control and gave orders through Pornthep who supervised them, assigned tasks and designed scam dialogues.
CAPTION:
Top and Front Page – Scam operation chief Pornthep being arrested today, Dec. 19, 2025. Photo – TV Channel 7
Also read:
Anutin cannot yet find running mates for PM under Bhumjaithai banners
People’s names 4 contestants for deputy PMs, only Nattapong pitted for PM
Sihasak discusses border battle with US Secretary of State over the phone
Chinese Foreign Minister mediates to end Thai-Cambodian border battle
