Six Chinese Nationals Arrested for Running Online Gambling Den in Chiang Mai

CHIANG MAI – Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of the Tourist Police Bureau, told a press conference today that 6 Chinese nationals were arrested for an online gambling racket in a raid on two luxury houses in San Sai district of Chiang Mai.

A combined force from Provincial Police Region 5, the Tourist Police Bureau and immigration searched the two houses at The Regent 1 housing estate in tambon San Sai Noi on Wednesday, the Bangkok Post reported.

Three Chinese nationals, two women and one man, were detained at the first house after an online gambling setup was found, two desktop computers, two notebook computers, two iPads, four mobile phones and a 225-page account book with betting details were found.

 

The police team then raided a nearby house and arrested three more Chinese nationals and seized evidence of online gambling, police seized a desktop computer, 5 iPads, 7 mobile phones, one set of documents, and an internet service router.

Arrested were Ms Li Yujia, 29; Ms Yang Siyu, 32, Mr Cai Di, 34, Mr Zhang Hao, 24, Mr He Pengcheng, 27 and Mr Zhao Wantong, 19, all Chinese Nationals.

Two Thais who leased the houses to the Chinese were also detained. The couple, Thitirat Phumprapayong and Chattida Yorsanon, were charged with sheltering foreign nationals without notifying immigration officials

All suspects were charged with colluding in operating an online gambling service and persuading people, directly or indirectly, to place bets.

The raid came after Chinese police sought assistance from the Royal Thai Police Office technology crime suppression centre in arresting a group of Chinese nationals using Thailand as a base for an online gambling operation, Pol Maj Gen Surachate said.

Their punters mostly placed bets on online Chinese gambling card games. More than 2.5 million yuan, about 10 million baht, was found to be circulating through their system.