SAMUT PRAKAN — Thai police arrested 24 suspected members of an international scam network who were hiding in a luxury villa near Bangkok, officials said Thursday. Most of the suspects were Filipino nationals who had fled Myanmar following a major crackdown on scam centers there earlier this month.
Police Lt. Gen. Natsak Chaowana, commander of the Central Investigation Bureau, said the operation stemmed from data analysis showing scam networks relocating from Myanmar into Thailand. The suspects were detained during an October 29 raid on a villa in Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok.
Authorities found 22 foreigners — mostly Filipinos aged 23 to 38 — living at the property. Immigration checks revealed that two were in Thailand illegally and 17 had overstayed their visas. Three others — a Singaporean man and two Filipinos — had valid visas but face revocation due to their alleged involvement in the group.
All suspects admitted during questioning that they had worked as scammers in Myawaddy, a border town in Myanmar notorious for criminal syndicates. They told police they fled the area after fighting broke out around October 21. Their manager arranged for their escape to Thailand and rented the villa for about 200,000 baht ($5,400) from October 27–31 while they prepared to move on to Cambodia to resume their operations.
A follow-up raid in Bangkok led to two more arrests — a 37-year-old Malaysian man and a 33-year-old Chinese woman — at a hotel. Police said five others, all Malaysian men aged 29 to 55, escaped and remain at large.
Investigators identified the network’s alleged leader as a Chinese national known as “Mr. Lin,” who runs three scam companies — DBL1, DBL2, and DRS — in Myawaddy. The groups are believed to target victims using Singapore phone numbers in investment scams.
Thai authorities said they are coordinating with Singaporean officials to expand the investigation.
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