Ukrainian and two Turkish nationals, accused of being part of a gang of credit-card thieves, were arrested in Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall yesterday.

Police say Andrew Salkosky, 40, from Ukraine, and Kardial Karamen, 33, and Oske Gildiarim, 28, both of Turkey, were taken into custody along with 40 credit cards and some brand-name products. They are accused of belonging to a criminal gang that stole credit-card information and copied it on to blank cards, some of which they sold on the black market.Police allege the three men also carried the cards to buy brand-name goods in various countries to resell products for cash. Police said the credit cards had details for cardholders in Spain with Bt300,000 on each card - a potential loss to banks of Bt12 milli...

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Posted in: accused of being part of a gang of credit-card thieves,Ukrainian and two Turkish nationals,were arrested in Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall yesterday.

Three young Frenchmen were arrested in Pattaya on Friday for "stealing several ATM cards"

Three young Frenchmen were arrested in Pattaya on Friday for "stealing several ATM cards" and allegedly withdrawing more than five million Baht from many ATM machines around Pattaya. The police identified the three suspects through surveillance cameras at the ATM locations.After police tracked the trio down, Kasmi Ali Faycal, 33, Beldilala Nabil, 21, and Khayyou Fares, 22, were arrested at the Sheraton Pattaya resort in Pattaya. Police also seized "several items at the resort including ATM cards ... and T-shirts as recognised on surveillance cameras."The three suspects were charged for "stealing and using stolen ATM cards, although they denied all accusations&nb...

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Posted in: Frenchmen Withdraw Millions of Baht With Stolen ATM Cards

Indian Tourist Drugged, Robbed After Last Night Out in Pattaya

An Indian tourist who was due to return home on Wednesday was drugged and robbed by a Thai woman he had met at a South Pattaya disco during his last night out on Walking Street.In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Mr. Sarath Chandra Karroti, 28, and a friend had gone to Mixx Discotheque at the Bali Hai Port in South Pattaya, where they met two unidentified Thai women who later accompanied them back to their separate rooms at the Markland Hotel in North Pattaya.The Indian tourist reported "consuming many cans of beer" in the room but remembered "nothing else until he woke up just after midday and realized his female companion had stolen his money and other valuables." The stolen items include two gold necklaces, 15,000 Indian Rupees, 1,500 US Dollars and 1,000 Baht in cash. His friend reported...

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Drug dealers arrested in Rayong

The Royal Thai Navy Narcotics Unit, based in Sattahip, busted yet another mid-level drug dealing gang, centred on Rayong, in a couple of raids which took place on Wednesday afternoon and evening. As per usual, the operation began with the arrest of a drug user at his residence in Rayong. He was told to phone his supplier and request a delivery of 50 Yabba tablets, a prohibited Class 1 narcotic. The main dealer, aged 26, arrived in a late-model sedan and was accompanied by a 30-year-old male. After entering the premises of the user, the dealer and his friend were arrested by the undercover drug squad officers. A search of the man’s vehicle uncovered the 50 Yabba tablets. The arrested man was then instructed to take police back to his residence. Here, a further 110 Yabba tablets and...

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Suspected drug dealer caught with loaded firearm in Jomtien

A random check on a man acting suspiciously in Jomtien late on Tuesday Night resulted in his arrest and the seizure of a loaded firearm and narcotics. Police were on routine patrol in Soi 5 off the Tepprasit Road when they spotted the man sitting in his Black Chevrolet pick-up truck. He saw Police and appeared nervous which prompted the check. Khun Boonkon aged 21 was taken to Dongtan Police Sub-Station on Jomtien Beach where he reportedly confessed to possession of the firearm and 20 Yabba Tablets which he intended to sell-on to customers around Pattaya. Because of this admission he was charged with possession of a firearm and possession with intent to supply a class 1 drug and is currently on remand pending court proceedings.&nb...

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Thai 'Girlfriend' Masterminds Armed Robbery of South Korean 'Boyfriend'

Following the "carefully planned" car-jacking of a vehicle owned by a South Korean expat living in Pattaya, police were able to quickly arrest two of the suspects. One of them was found to be the victim's 27-year-old so-called Thai "girlfriend," identified only as Miss Benjapan, who is thought to be the mastermind of the robbery, and to have "planned everything." The 19-year-old accomplice, Khun Komsan, who is thought to have carried out the car-jacking, was also arrested. However, a 13-year-old girl also involved in the robbery plot was able to escape.Pattaya police explained that Mrs Benjapan had "devised a plan to steal Mr. Jun Hak Baer’s [the South Korean expat's] car." Mr. Komsan was used to "intercept the car in a remote area and - at gunpoint - Mr. Baer was forced out of his car which...

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Posted in: Thai 'Girlfriend' Masterminds Armed Robbery of South Korean 'Boyfriend'

Thai Police Arrest Two Germans Wanted for Fraud, Tax Evasion

Thai police have arrested two Germans, one of them in Pattaya, who face arrest warrants in their homeland on fraud and tax evasion charges, media and diplomatic sources confirmed Friday.Acting on a request from the German Embassy in Bangkok, Thai immigration police arrested the two fugitive men, Elmar Anton Schorosch, 50, and Ralf Dotterweich, 51, in two separate raids on Monday, the Manager newspaper reported.Mr Schorosch was arrested in his home in Si Sa Ket province, where he had been living for years with his Thai wife. He faces an arrest warrant issued by a Wuerzburg court for fraud.Mr Dotterweich, who faces an arrest warrant in Wuerzburg in connection with a 500,000-Euro tax evasion case, was arrested in Pattaya.The arrests were the latest of several involving German nationals wanted...

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Posted in: Tax Evasion,Thai Police Arrest Two Germans Wanted for Fraud

Thai police have arrested five Iranians and charged them with drug smuggling and trafficking, an offence that carries a maximum punishment of death

Thai police have arrested five Iranians and charged them with drug smuggling and trafficking, an offence that carries a maximum punishment of death, officials said Thursday.Authorities said a total of 5.8 kilos (12.8 pounds) of "ice" crystal methamphetamine, worth about half a million dollars, was found in the luggage of the suspects, who arrived on the same flight from the United Arab Emirates."We believe that they are in the same gang but we cannot prove it," said Police Major Ronnakorn Sukmongkol.The suspects -- three men and two women in their 20s and 30s -- all admitted that they were paid to take the drugs to Malaysia, police said.Thailand, along with other countries in the region, has seen a marked increase in seizures of methamphetamine as the world opiate trade declines.Although drug...

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Posted in: an offence that carries a maximum punishment of death,Thai police have arrested five Iranians and charged them with drug smuggling and trafficking

Patong Gangland Slaying Adds to Spate of Phuket Shootings

Patong gangsters knocked two Mafia loan sharks from a motorcycle in Patong early today then opened fire with a handgun, killing one man and putting the other in hospital in a coma, police say. The blazing volley of shots at 3.10am in Soi Nanai was the third savage killing involving gangs on Phuket in as many weeks. It was the climax of a feud between groups that hated each other, said Patong Superintendent Colonel Arayapan Pukbuakao, of Kathu police station.He said that earlier in the evening, Nart Narkpecht, 33, the owner of Nina Karaoke, spotted two of his bitter enemies on a motorcycle outside his karaoke and figured they were going to kill him. So he hopped on his own motorcycle and sped off to recruit pals Somnuk Suwamthanu, 29, and Bhuchit Bhukam, also 29. The three men returned to the...

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Posted in: Patong Gangland Slaying Adds to Spate of Phuket Shootings

Phuket a haven for addicts

Although illegal, over-the-counter sale and purchase of benzodiazepine derivative drug like diezapam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax) is common in Thailand, and is even tacitly accepted by many local authorities. However the practice exposes buyers to health risks including addiction or overdose.Last year, a high-ranking source in the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) admitted to The Gazette that his department permitted pharmacies to sell prescription drugs over the counter, despite the fact that it is prohibited under Thailand’s Psychotropic Substances Act of 1974, which outlaws the possession of ‘Schedule IV’ drugs without a prescription.“In Phuket we’re not so strict as this is a tourist place,” he said. “We grant permission to pharmacies to sell the drugs, but they need to report to the...

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