Big dawn raids target foreign scammers and skimmers in Pattaya

A series of dawn raids yesterday targeted foreigners using Thailand as a base for illegal activity.

Some 200 police and soldiers – some heavily armed – were led by chief of the tourist branch Surachet Hakpan.

They had 12 search warrants and were particularly targeting people from Africa who were running romance scams as well as skimmers and money launderers.

Sniffer dogs were also used as drugs were another matter on the raiding parties’ radar.

The force made 18 arrests.

Nine suspects were held for not having permission to be in the kingdom. These were people from Uganda, 4, Nigeria, 2, and one each from Iran, Ivory Coast and the UK.

A further 9 suspects were held on overstay. These come from Uzbekistan, 4, India, 2, and one each from Uganda, Cameroon and Iran.

Surachet said that the raids were conducted on apartments, rooms and rental places and there would be no detrimental impact on tourists.

Cameras recorded the chief’s movements and the story was reported by Tnews who said that it was principally a crackdown on dark skinned criminals damaging the economy and image of Thailand.

Thai Visa / TNews

Stay updated with Samui Times by following us on Facebook.