CHIANG RAI – Thailand’s Anti-Online Scam Center (ACSC) led a team of more than 40 officers in raids tied to a cross-border phone SIM trafficking network scamming students. Police searched eight locations across Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, focusing on groups believed to supply SIM cards to unsuspection student used in online fraud.

During the operation, investigators from the Crime Suppression Division police arrested three suspects. Officers detained Jiraporn, 36, at a home in Chiang Mai and seized hundreds of SIM numbers packed in parcel boxes.

Police also arrested Benjamas, 29, in Chiang Mai, and Prachya, 36, in Chiang Rai. Prachya reportedly worked as a sales employee for a telecom network company. In addition, other teams searched five more related locations in Mae Sai and Thoeng districts in Chiang Rai to gather more evidence.

ACSC traced the case back to online fraud reports filed through Thailand’s online complaint system in early December 2025. Investigators reviewed eight cases and noticed something unusual about seven phone numbers tied to scammers. The SIM registration pattern didn’t match what police typically see in similar fraud cases.

After checking the registration records, police found the phone numbers were registered under the names of children and teens aged 15 or younger. Many of them lived in the Tha Ton subdistrict, Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai.

The fraud itself allegedly involved scammers posing as Provincial Electricity Authority staff and tricking victims into transferring money for a meter change. Senior police commanders then assigned investigators in Chiang Mai to verify what had happened and identify who registered the SIMs.

“Free internet SIM Cards for Students”

Investigators found two key events linked to local schools:

Nov. 17, 2025 (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) at Ban Sukritai School (secondary level)
Nov. 24, 2025 (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) at Ban Huai Sala School (primary level)

Both schools are in Tha Ton, Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai. According to police, a group of about four people approached the schools and claimed they came from a major telecom and internet provider’s Chiang Rai branch. They told staff they wanted to hand out internet SIM cards to support education.

Many students signed up. The group then collected students’ ID cards, scanned the cards and phone numbers, and repeatedly scanned students’ faces to “activate” the SIMs.

Police believe the group used student data to open multiple SIMs per child. However, the students only received one SIM each to take home. Investigators suspect the extra SIMs were sold to scam networks and later used in online fraud.

After learning what may have happened, police informed the principals of both schools. The schools filed a report with Mae Ai Police Station on Dec. 25, 2025, documenting that scammers targeted students and caused harm to minors.

Police later gathered enough evidence to obtain arrest warrants for three suspects and took them into custody.

Students Were Used as Tools for Crime

Nirandorn Awanna, principal of Ban Huai Sala School, said the group first contacted the school with documents, offering an activity to educate students about scammer gangs and provide free internet SIM cards for learning.

Because it sounded helpful for students and families, the school allowed the activity. On the scheduled day, two men and two women arrived wearing orange shirts associated with the telecom brand. The school organized about 40 students who had national ID cards to attend the session. The four visitors gave a talk about scam networks.

After that, they started handing out SIM cards. To activate them, they scanned student ID cards and scanned each student’s face. The principal said the face scans seemed suspicious because some students had to scan multiple times.

The group claimed the scans “didn’t go through,” so they repeated them. Staff didn’t realize the repeated scans could be used to open multiple SIMs under one child’s name.

Students received one SIM each, but some couldn’t use them at home. The school later learned that SIMs registered under some students were tied to criminal activity, after the Crime Suppression police contacted the school.

He said the situation frightened parents and teachers because children could be dragged into a criminal case without knowing it. He also urged other schools to be careful and said the education office had been informed, since other schools could face a similar risk if they don’t verify who is requesting access to students.

More than 200 Students Given SIM cards

Police said early findings suggest more than 200 students across the two schools were affected. Investigators also believe other schools in Northern Thailand may have been targeted.

Authorities suspect the SIMs opened under students’ identities were sold to scam networks across the border in Tachileik, Myanmar, near Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai.

Police are now coordinating with the telecom company to urgently suspend the phone numbers registered under students’ names.

Investigators filed initial charges that include arranging or facilitating the purchase or sale of mobile numbers registered under another person’s name, using other people’s personal data to commit technology-related crimes, and collecting, possessing, or disclosing personal data for others to use in cybercrime, allegedly for unlawful benefit.

The suspects denied the allegations. Police transferred them to Fang Police Station in Chiang Mai for further questioning, detention procedures, and an expanded investigation into other possible links.