Thai woman rescued after being held captive by Chinese nationals in Pattaya
Victim claims financial hardship drives her into opening mule account for Chinese gang
A Thai woman sought help from police officers, claiming that Chinese nationals held her captive at a luxury hotel in Pattaya after she agreed to open a mule account for them.
A Thai man, identified only as Bird, visited Mueang Pattaya Police Station at around 6am yesterday, October 8, to seek help for his 20 year old sister, Pimnipa. Bird told police that his sister was being confined in a room at a luxury hotel in the Jomtien area of Pattaya.
Bird provided police with the hotel’s location, which Pimnipa had sent to him via Facebook Messenger. This led to a police raid, where officers found Pimnipa in the hotel room with a Chinese national. The man was taken to the police station for questioning, but refused to speak with officers.
Pimnipa told police that she had been struggling financially and was desperate to earn money quickly to pay her rent. She came across a Facebook post by a criminal gang seeking people to open mule accounts, so she contacted them and agreed to let them use her name for a fraudulent bank account.
According to Pimnipa, the gang arranged to meet her at the entrance of Pattaya Walking Street. She was then taken by car and driven around the Pattaya and Si Racha areas of Chon Buri, being transferred between several vehicles before eventually arriving at the hotel.
At the hotel, about six to seven Chinese nationals were present. They took her bank account, seized her mobile phone and personal documents, and forced her to withdraw money from an ATM. Pimnipa said she did not know how much was withdrawn, as the gang did not allow her to handle the cash.
Later, the Chinese nationals accused her of stealing 200,000 baht from the mule account and threatened to assault her if she did not confess.
Pimnipa said she managed to trick the gang into returning her mobile phone by claiming she could invite friends to open more mule accounts for them. Once she had her phone back, she messaged Bird and shared her location.
Police are now conducting further investigations and questioning the Chinese suspect to identify the remaining members of the gang and any other individuals involved.
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