2 Phuket men pose as police and extort foreigners with fake donation

Police arrested two Thai men for allegedly posing as police and extorting foreigners in Phuket through a fake donation campaign claiming to support police and soldiers stationed at the Thailand–Cambodia border.

Officers from Chalong Police Station announced the arrests on their official Facebook page yesterday, December 29. The suspects, identified as Pariphat and Suriya, targeted foreign residents and tourists in the Rawai area.

According to police, the two men approached several properties where foreigners were staying and demanded money under the guise of collecting donations for police and military personnel at the border.

Police shared CCTV footage from a house where one of the victims, a German family, was staying. The video shows the suspects arriving at the property in a white SUV before greeting the German nationals.

In the footage, one of the men introduced himself as a senior police officer, referring to himself as a “big boss.”

The suspects then invited the German tourists to make a donation for police and soldiers. However, police said the amount was not voluntary, with the suspects setting a fixed starting figure of 5,000 baht.

It remains unclear whether the German family handed over any money. Police also did not disclose how much money was extorted in total or how many foreign victims were targeted by the suspects.

Investigators said the two men repeated the same tactic at other homes in the Rawai area, tricking foreign residents into paying money through the counterfeit donation campaign.

Both suspects were charged with committing fraud by impersonating another person. Under Section 342 of the Criminal Code, the offence carries a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.

Chalong police also reiterated their strict adherence to the “No Gift Policy,” stressing that police officers do not accept gifts or benefits of any kind, and do not solicit or receive personal gain while performing their duties. The policy is in line with regulations set by the Royal Thai Police.

In a similar case reported earlier this year, a Thai man was arrested in April at Asiatique The Riverfront after posing as a police officer and extorting money from migrant workers and their employers.

The suspect allegedly threatened victims with deportation or legal charges for illegal employment and illegal work if they refused to pay him.