BANGKOK – After officers from Din Daeng Police Station investigated a tourist robbery at a hotel in Soi Sutthiporn, Din Daeng District, Bangkok, on April 25 at around 8:30 p.m., they found that it was related to the abduction and extortion of Mr. Wang Zhen, 37, a Chinese national, and his four Chinese friends.
The investigation revealed that three men had entered the room, claiming to be Thai police officers. They took the five Chinese individuals into custody, alleging that they had violated the law of having a card skimmer and needed to be taken to the police station. Two cars were waiting outside the hotel.
On the way, the three men persuaded the victims to pay money in exchange for not being prosecuted. Mr. Wang’s group then contacted their Chinese friend in Cambodia to transfer money to a digital wallet account as instructed by the perpetrators, amounting to 65,000 USDT or approximately 2,500,000 Thai Baht. After the payment was made, the perpetrators released them.
Following the incident, the victims met with the investigating officers to file a complaint and hand over the case to the investigators to proceed with legal action against all the suspects in this case, ensuring they are punished.
On May 3, the Metropolitan Police gathered evidence and requested the court to issue arrest warrants for three suspects: Mr. Attawut Sumanrattanakul, 52 years old, Mr. Theerachai Chalermpanpen, 36 years old, and Mr. Naphasin Nummak, 39 years old, on charges of “jointly extorting property, jointly impersonating an official and acting as an official without authority, jointly detaining or confining others or depriving them of their physical freedom.”
Mr. Athravut , or Mr. Boss, was arrested at his residence in the Khu Bon 33 area, Ram Inthra Subdistrict, Khan Na Yao District. He is the person who claimed to be a police officer, but it was found that he was a former police officer who had already been dismissed from the service in 2022.
During the intimidation of the Chinese visitors, Boss claimed that they had to pay 4 million baht in exchange for not being prosecuted. However, the Chinese group did not have that moch money to pay, so Mr. Boss reduced it to 3 million baht.
Mr. Boss gave a brief interview to the media, confirming that he was not involved in the incident. He did not participate in the gang’s extortion of a Chinese businessman and did not know Mr. Wang, the Chinese businessman. Importantly, he was not present at the scene of the incident.
When reporters tried to inquire about where was him on the day of the incident, he only replied that he would give his statement in court. When further asked if Mr. Boss had actually served as a police officer, he did not respond at all before being escorted into the investigation room at Din Daeng Police Station.
