Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphop Phuridet, Commander of the Central Investigation Bureau police, told a press briefing that the CIB has coordinated with local agencies to crack down on “Ghost SIM cards and Mule accounts.”
Most recently, the court issued an arrest warrant for a man and a woman from Chiang Rai who sold their mule accounts to friends in exchange for thousands of baht. When they discovered millions of baht were circulated in the accounts, they went into hiding.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphop Phuridet said the officers had court warrants to arrest the two suspects at two locations in Chiang Rai.
The first case was an arrest warrant from the Bangkok Criminal Court, number 921/2567, dated March 5, 2024, for the offense of “fraud by impersonating another person, entering false information into a computer system in a manner that might cause damage to others or the public.”
They arrested Mr. Thaweesak, 27 years old, from Tambon Pa Ko Dam, Amphoe Mae Lao, Chiang Rai Province, while he was inside his house.
Mr. Thaweesak stated that he had previously opened a Kasikorn Bank account and sold the account to a friend who had fled Thailand to live in a neighboring country for 4,000 baht.
He then saw SMS messages and emails linked to the account, warning him that more than 1-2 million baht had flowed in and out of the account. He told the CIB police she did not know where the money came from.
In the second case, CIB police officers arrested Ms. Jiphada, 28, from Tambon Sri Kham, Amphoe Mae Chan, Chiang Rai Province.
Armed with an arrest warrant from Phrae Provincial Court No. 219/2567 dated July 19, 2204, and an arrest warrant from Kanchanaburi Provincial Court No. 297/2565 dated June 22, 2023, and the arrest warrant from Ratchaburi Provincial Court No. 33/2564 dated January 21, 2024, on the same charge of “fraud by impersonating another person”
Ms. Jipda said that in 2021, she lost her job, so she sold her bank accounts to her friends in Mae Sai District, two accounts each, each worth 4,000 baht, for 8,000 baht.
She noticed a turnover of 10,000-100,000 baht from the SMS messages at a time. She said she was afraid and fled to live with relatives in various places until she was arrested.
Both were taken into custody to be prosecuted in the districts where the incident occurred.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphop also warned the general public, especially youths, not to sell accounts to others to obtain a small amount of money because they will be prosecuted.
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Geoff Thomas is an award winning journalist known for his sharp insights and no-nonsense reporting style. Over the years he has worked for Reuters and the Canadian Press covering everything from political scandals to human interest stories. He brings a clear and direct approach to his work.
