BANGKOK: Thai immigration officers and South Korean police arrested 10 suspects in Bangkok on Monday (October 19, 2026), in raids targeting an alleged scam network that preyed on South Koreans. Police put the losses at hundreds of millions of baht.
The Immigration Bureau said eight South Koreans and two Chinese nationals were arrested. Officers seized more than 10 computers and mobile phones in total, which police said were being used to defraud victims when the raids took place.
Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Nopasin Poolsawat led more than 30 immigration officers, joined by South Korean police and South Korea’s police consul in Thailand. Searches covered three locations in the Lat Phrao–Huai Khwang, Watcharaphon–Chatuchot in Sai Mai, and Ratchada–Rama 9 areas of Bangkok.
Preliminary inquiries indicated that the two Chinese suspects acted as leaders and trainers, teaching the South Korean suspects how to deceive victims, police said. Investigators described techniques similar to those previously used against Thai victims.
According to police, callers posed as senior prosecutors, threatened victims and sent forged arrest warrants and fabricated evidence claiming that the targets were implicated in money laundering. Investigators also alleged that the network used romance scams, building relationships before sending fraudulent links to steal money.
Pol Lt Col Sittimon Soipooraya, an investigation inspector with the Immigration Bureau’s Investigation Division, said the suspects worked in clearly separated zones and used telephone headsets to contact victims. Callers could dial more than 50 telephone numbers in an hour, Pol Lt Col Sittimon said.
Pol Lt Gen Nopasin said the investigation began after South Korean national Lim Yongkil was arrested for overstaying on September 4. Lim was wanted by South Korean authorities under an arrest warrant for allegedly defrauding the public and had alleged links to online gambling, according to the commissioner.
The joint investigation traced the suspected network from an earlier base in Lat Phrao to a luxury house in Watcharaphon, Sai Mai district, Nopasin said. The group had rented the property for 150,000 baht a month from October 1.
According to Pol Lt Gen Nopasin, the suspects entered Thailand on tourist visas, with no criminal records or Interpol Red Notices appearing in the immigration system at the time. Police alleged that the group subsequently used Thailand to accommodate members and conduct cross-border criminal activities targeting South Koreans.
Several pieces of furniture at the Sai Mai house were still covered in plastic wrapping, suggesting that the occupants had moved in recently.
Pol Lt Gen Nopasin ordered investigators to examine whether the landlord had any connection to the suspected network after local residents said metropolitan police had raided the same property in a scam case about two months earlier.
The Immigration Bureau revoked the visas of all 10 suspects and kept them in custody while officers gathered evidence for proceedings under Thai law.
Pol Lt Gen Nopasin said Thailand welcomed foreign tourists but would not allow the country to serve as a refuge or operating base for transnational crime. The commissioner ordered a nationwide crackdown on foreign visitors overstaying their permitted stay, putting the total at more than 10,000.
The Immigration Bureau said Thai investigators were coordinating with South Korean authorities to trace financial transactions and arrange the suspects’ transfer for prosecution through the relevant international procedures. - The Nation/ANN
