Bangkok man arrested for flogging dodgy medical certificates online

A young man in Bangkok has been arrested for peddling fake medical certificates on Facebook Marketplace. Police arrested 24 year old Phitchayaphat Somsri at a house in Lat Phrao district for selling the false certificates, including for Covid-19, for up to 1000 baht each, and say he used quite a number of tools in manufacturing them.

A spokesman says the tools included 17 stamps with the names of hospitals, both private and public, 95 fake medical certificates, a computer containing forms from 65 hospitals, a mobile phone and also two books of Thailand Post’s EMS labels.

The arrest comes after Tourist Police received a complaint that a Facebook user was producing fake doctor certificates and selling them online to those wanting to use them for sick leave, job applications or other purposes. Police say both Thais and foreigners were among his customers.

Investigators coordinated with the Central Investigation Bureau to track down the Facebook Marketplace page Admin. The fee was 800-1,000 baht each.

Investigators then got a warrant to search the man’s house leading to the arrest. Phitchayaphat confessed to owning the Facebook Marketplace page, selling dodgy medical certificates both in Thai and English. He claimed he’d been doing it for about a year.

The suspect implicated a woman named “Pub” who he claimed hired him and sent him the fake hospital stamps and other items. He claimed he got 400 baht per certificate and earned about 40,000-50,000 baht a month.

Tourist Police say they’ll extend the investigation to find Pub. They handed Phitchayaphat over to Chok Chai police station for prosecution.

SOURCES: Bangkok Post