Pattaya, Thailand – 5 September 2025
A Thai woman and a Malaysian man have been arrested in connection with a cross-border call centre scam after attempting to withdraw nearly 1 million baht from a bank account flagged for suspicious activity.
Under the direction of Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyoo, Pattaya City Police, in coordination with the Transnational Crime Suppression Unit, arrested Kalya “Benz” Chinnarat (29) and Edmund Kee (25) at Central Marina Mall on September 3. The operation followed a tip-off from Krungthai Bank’s Financial Crime Investigation Team, which detected unusual withdrawal patterns linked to cybercrime.
Kalya attempted to withdraw 980,000 baht from her Krungthai account, which had already been frozen. Kee, who is fluent in Thai, accompanied her during the transaction. Upon their arrest, police seized three bank passbooks in Kalya’s name, including accounts from Krungthai, TMBThanachart, and Siam Commercial Bank.
Investigators learned that Kalya was acting on instructions from a man named Thanat, who contacted her via the LINE app. She was told to meet Kee at Big C South Pattaya, after which the pair traveled by Bolt taxi to a Siam Commercial Bank branch, where she successfully withdrew 430,450 baht. The cash was handed to Kee, who allegedly transferred it to Wang Zhiyuan, a 23-year-old Chinese national.
The group conducted a second successful withdrawal of 720,740 baht at another bank branch on Pattaya Beach Road. However, their third attempt at Krungthai Bank failed, triggering the sting operation that led to their arrest.
Kalya now faces multiple charges, including:
Public fraud
Money laundering
Participation in a criminal organisation
Allowing use of her bank accounts for illegal activity
Kee faces similar charges, including facilitating cybercrime and laundering proceeds from organized fraud.
Police revealed that Wang, the suspected ringleader, has fled the country. Investigations are ongoing, with authorities working to dismantle the larger international call centre scam network, believed to operate across multiple countries.
