Thai police arrested 17 foreign nationals in coordinated raids across Pattaya and Bangkok, dismantling a major call-centre scam that defrauded victims of roughly 500 million baht, according to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD). The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) announced the operation, codenamed “Thailand–Korea Breaking Chains,” during a press briefing on Monday.
The operation began after a police liaison officer at the South Korean Embassy informed Thai authorities that a fraud ring targeting South Korean nationals was being operated from Thailand. Acting on this information, TCSD officers raided a house in Pattaya, where they apprehended four South Korean men. According to police, the suspects admitted they were members of a call-centre gang that had previously operated in Cambodia but relocated to Thailand after a crackdown there. All four were the subject of Interpol Red Notices and allegedly tricked victims into investing in a fake resort project called “Genting Malaysia.”
Information obtained from the Pattaya suspects led officers to two condominium units in Bangkok’s Phra Ram 3 and Lumpini areas. Police arrested eleven more South Korean men and two Chinese men at the two locations, bringing the total number of suspects to 17. Authorities said the condos had been converted into operation centres equipped with computers, internet connections, and detailed scripts used to deceive victims. Officers seized computers, thirty-five mobile phones, and fifty VoIP phones as evidence.
The arrested suspects were identified as: Jeongmin Lee, 31; Intae Kim, 32; Takoon Ha, 38; Jiyul Kim, 32; Sunhan Eom, 34; Junyeop Kim, 28; Jesup Byeon, 33; Eunkyun Kim, 43; Sunggyun Kwon, 30; Yul Hong, 29; Muncheol Cho, 35; Taehwan Lim, 35; Jeongbeen Lee, 29; Taegwon Lee, 27; Mingzheng Liu, 29; Caihua Li, 43; and Linhu Che, 35.
A representative of the South Korean Embassy told Thai police that the gang had been deceiving South Koreans from October 17, 2024, to May 28, 2025, primarily by persuading them to invest in a pyramid-style scheme. The group reportedly operated in Cambodia before relocating to Thailand due to renewed tensions along the Thai–Cambodian border.
