Scams grow, as laws lag

Last week, police in Chiang Rai province arrested a 35-year-old Chinese national as he went from one ATM to a multitude of others to withdraw cash.

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A subsequent search of his rented room showed he had in his possession 2,057 ATM cards, 537,900 baht in cash, 35 bank books, and 39 SIM cards. He was initially charged with illegally possessing ATM cards belonging to others in a manner that may cause damage, a charge carrying a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment.

In another incident in Bangkok, police arrested three other Chinese nationals in a rented house in the Lat Phrao area and seized four unregistered SIM boxes and 29 cellphones. Police checked their bank accounts, which showed transactions totalling about 10 million baht. Two of these individuals had arrived from Cambodia recently. Given the circumstances, particularly the presence of the SIM boxes, it is justifiable to assume they were planning to set up a scam call centre. But the police were hesitant to charge them with involvement in a scam activity.