Police found train car on Chinese suspect’s mansion grounds
The home of a Chinese man suspected of multiple crimes was raided and police found a range of oddities including a Chinese train car. The 33 year old Shao Xiaobo was accused of using a fake Thai ID and rented a building in Bangkok where he stored suspicious vehicles and is accused of dealing in a variety of questionable businesses.
Police had previously attempted to raid the man’s property in the Greater Bangkok suburb of Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district, but their original request for a warrant was denied by the Thanyaburi Provincial Court. Later though, police stopped a truck leaving the compound with 40 bottles of contraband liquor which they seized. This gave them probable cause to search the Chinese man’s mansion, as well as arrest a 30 year old Thai man and 21 year old foreigner in the truck.
Shao had a warrant for his arrest in Narathiwat province, accused of making a false statement for a fake ID card. The mansion bore a logo for the Thai Merchant Association that Shao claimed to be an advisor to, but his name doesn’t appear on the board of directors list. Inside the compound, police found military and police uniforms also bearing his name, along with a BMW police escort motorbike and an official-looking Chinese limousine with flags attached to it.
Plus, there was an entire train car, which the State Railway of Thailand was quick to confirm did not belong to them and had no connection to the ongoing Thai-Chinese railway project. A hidden cupboard was found upon a thorough police search, but it was empty. Shao was carrying a Chinese passport along with a second passport issued by Vanuatu.
Police have linked Shao to Global System and QY Group, two companies that are now defunct but dealt with arms dealing and luxury car imports respectively. Nation Thailand reports that investigators are looking into his finances and whether the mansion or any of his business dealings were involved in any illegal activity.
