Kidnapper claims he abducted Chinese man to help Thai nation

UPDATE

One of six suspects accused of kidnapping a Chinese man for a ransom of nearly 4 million baht in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday says his motive behind the crime was “to help the nation” since the victim is a wanted Chinese criminal. He said the victim’s ex-girlfriend had nothing to do with the kidnapping.

At 12.30pm today, police detained 27 year old Natthaphat “Gob” [surname withheld] for interrogation at Lumpini Police Station in Bangkok about his involvement in the kidnap of 33 year old Wang of Chinese nationality.

The six suspects are accused of joint kidnap for ransom of a person over 15 years old by threatening to use violence or other methods of coercion to detain and imprison, joint extortion, and jointly restraining or imprisoning others to deprive them of physical liberty and allowing others to commit acts that cause physical or mental harm to the victim.

Gob confessed to all of the aforementioned charges this afternoon. He said he kidnapped Wang with the intention of “helping the nation.” He said that he did it because he knew that Wang is a Chinese “grey capitalist” doing illegal business in Thailand. Gob said he knew that Wang was wanted for fraud by the Chinese government, so he was just trying to help out by kidnapping and extorting money from him.

The nationalist testified to the police that Wang’s ex-girlfriend Nampetch, a contestant in the Miss Suphan Buri 2020 beauty pageant, had nothing to do with the crime, reports KhaoSod. He said he followed orders from her 24 year old boyfriend Guy, who was also arrested.

The accused denied knowing that a gun was used to threaten Wang during the kidnap. He also denied knowing how much money he would receive from violently kidnapping the wanted Chinese criminal.

Police say they will now interrogate the five remaining suspects.

ORIGINAL STORY: Chinese man kidnapped and stuffed in a box for ransom in Thailand

A wealthy Chinese man was kidnapped from his condo in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday. He was stuffed into a plastic box and transported to Hua Hin for the night and held for a ransom of nearly 4 million baht by a gang of Thai kidnappers, including his ex-girlfriend who is a beauty pageant contestant. It turns out the victim is wanted for fraud in China. All six suspects in the case have been arrested.

On Saturday, the victim’s friend Yu travelled to Lumpini Police Station and reported that he received a concerning video call from his friend Wang the previous day.

Wang said…

“You don’t need to report this to the police. They will release me if they receive the money.”

However, Yu grew concerned and decided to go to the police. Wang’s face was bruised, said Yu.

Investigating officers say that the victim used to have a Thai girlfriend named Nampetch who he dated for about one year. They broke up three months ago and recently got back together. Police say 24 year old Nampetch is a former beauty queen, who competed as a contestant in the Miss Grand Suphan Buri contest in 2020.

Police say that Nampetch knew that Wang had a lot of money and assets. Moreover, Wang is wanted on a Chinese arrest warrant, making him an easy kidnap for ransom target as he probably wouldn’t go to the police.

Police believe that Nampetch, with the help of her second boyfriend Guy, planned the kidnapping together and used the BMW that Wang bought for Nampetch to commit the crime.

At 7pm on Friday, the gang arrived at Wang’s condominium in Sathorn and entered using the spare key that Wang gave to his Nampetch to enter his room on the 17th floor.

The kidnappers tied up Wang’s hands and feet and used his phone to request a luggage cart from the condo staff. Then, one of the kidnappers went out and brought back a huge plastic box.

Wang was stuffed into the box, placed on the cart, taken downstairs and put inside the BMW he bought. The four suspects drove to a house in Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, where they called Wang’s friend Yu.

Then, the gang forced Wang to transfer money into a bank account belonging to Kob twice, first 2 million baht and then 900,000 baht. Then, they forced the victim to transfer 1.03 million baht to a woman named Ta, totalling 3.93 million baht. The gang released Wang at a restaurant on Saturday.

Police say they have been able to get 2.3 million baht back of the total sum so far and arrested six suspects, including beauty queen 24 year old Nampetch, 24 year old Guy, Kob, June, Frog, and Joe.

Six suspects were arrested under suspicion of, joint kidnap for ransom of a person over 15 years old by threatening to use violence or other methods of coercion to detain and imprison, joint extortion, and jointly restraining or imprisoning others to deprive them of physical liberty and allowing others to commit acts that cause physical or mental harm to the victim.

During interrogation at Thong Lor Police Station yesterday, Nampetch told the police that she chose Wang as the victim because she knows he is a grey capitalist and does illegal business in Thailand, so thought that he wouldn’t go to the police. He gives her 100,000 baht in spending money per month, she said.

Police did a background check and found that Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Wang after he was accused of fraud to the tune of 12 million yuan, or 60 million baht. However, no Interpol red notice was issued so Wang was able to enter Thailand with no problems. Wang is now detained by Thai immigration.