Bangkok bust: Thai woman’s hotel hustle unravels fake bills, triggers hunt for mysterious foreign accomplice

The arrest of a Thai woman on fraud charges at a Bangkok hotel yesterday led to an investigation into the production of fake dollar bills and the search for a foreign man involved.

Officers from the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) yesterday, November 23, tracked down suspects in the fraud case in Nonthaburi and Samut Prakarn provinces until they found one of the suspects, a 40 year old Thai woman named Ploypatcha, at a hotel in the Bangkok Noi district of Bangkok.

Officers raided her hotel room and arrested her yesterday. Ploypatcha was charged with violating Section 264 of the Criminal Law by using a forged document, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both.

She was also charged with committing fraud under Section 341 of the Criminal Law which is punishable by imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both.

Officers then searched her room in search of hidden illegal items. During the search, officers found 763 counterfeit US$100 banknotes in her room along with tools to make the fake bills.

Ploypatcha confessed that she bought the equipment to make the fake notes from a foreign man for 300,000 baht. Then, a group of foreigners gave her a demonstration of how to make counterfeit banknotes, and she later made them herself in the hotel room.

Counterfeiting

Ploypatcha stated that she had to dip black and green papers in a chemical liquid, wait for them to dry, and later dip them in a dry chemical substance in white colour provided by the foreign group.

Ploypatcha stated that there were more steps she needed to go through and made an appointment with the gang to continue the steps but she was arrested before the scheduled meeting.

The discovery resulted in a new charge of counterfeiting against Ploypatcha. She could face life imprisonment or 10 to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 to 400,000 baht for violating Section 240 of the Criminal Law.

Ploypatcha insisted that the counterfeit banknotes were not yet ready for use and that she had not yet used them in any crime. Further charges would be filed if she is found to have used the counterfeit money in any criminal activity.

The case has been handed over to Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) officials, who will conduct a further investigation into the production of the counterfeit notes along with a search for the said foreign man.