Immigration Police Arrest 21 Foreigners Working Illegally in Thailand

During an Immigration police raid on a luxury residence in Bangkok, 18 Vietnamese nationals were arrested on suspicion of running an illegal online gambling enterprise.

Immigration police detained a group of foreign nationals were using the premises as an operations base for online gambling, according to Immigration Bureau (IB) chief Pol Lt Gen Ittiphol Itthisarnronchai, at a media briefing on Thursday.

The upscale house had eighteen Vietnamese nationals, ten men and eight women. One of them was Le Thi Kim Oanh, a 20-year-old. The woman and her 17 accomplices were charged with collaborating to establish an online gambling organization or inciting individuals to gamble, either directly or indirectly.

Thirty five items were seized from the premises, including laptops and other devices used for online gambling.

The arrests came after IB officers got a tip that a group of suspected foreign individuals were residing inside the property, rarely exiting, and keeping the lights on.

According to the Immigration police chief, the officers subsequently began intensively monitoring the foreign tenants’ movements. They learned that they were Vietnamese nationals and gathered proof that they were doing internet gambling inside the property.

The officers then requested permission from the Phra Khanong Criminal Court to search the two-story house.

The house’s first level served as a recreation area, while the second floor housed the bedrooms. The lobby served as an online gambling operation area, with ten sets of PCs and peripherals.

Security camera footage revealed that the 18 Vietnamese nationals alternated between working on PCs with access to gambling websites.

According to the Immigration police chief, during questioning, the 18 suspects agreed to working as administrators of 24-hour gambling websites. They claimed the casino operator was a Vietnamese national.

They were each paid 20,000 baht per month, plus commissions on the amount of internet bets they urged gamblers to make.

The property had been hired since November of last year to serve as an operational hub for internet gaming. All detainees were handed over to personnel at the Hua Mak police station for legal proceedings.

In other police news, three Russian nationals were arrested after police raided an unlicensed beauty clinic on Koh Samui, a southern resort island. Police and health officials raided the Alspa beauty clinic, according to a police spokesperson.

The clinic, operating illegally by a Russian national, provided beauty treatments. Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals were taken. Three Russian nationals, one male and two women, were arrested and charged.

Alexandr Ermishin, 35, was charged with working beyond the scope of his work authorization, while Liliia Lukina, 32, was accused with working without a permit.

Ms Yulia Efremova, the clinic’s manager and owner, was accused with illegally operating the clinic and giving medical treatments without permission. All were placed in police custody at the Bo Phut station for legal proceedings.

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