Shamed Phuket travel company’s assets to be auctioned

PHUKET: The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) is auctioning off 15 assets, worth about 15 million baht, of Tranlee Travel Co Ltd on Monday.

Tranlee was an established, full-function tour service provider in Phuket until July last year, when police arrested a senior director and shareholder for allegedly faking two Thai national ID cards used to register the business (story here). The company was also found guilty of offering zero baht tours.

“We are carrying out this auction under Article 3 of the Money Laundering Act (BE 2542) over the provision of zero baht tours,” said Gen Chaiya Siriamphunkul Secretary-General of the AMLO committee.

The auction of 15 company buses will be held at Phuket City Municipality at 10am. Prices range from 420,000 baht to 1,250,000 baht each.

Investigators seized buses, boats, land and millions of baht as they delved deep into the operations of the Phuket-based tour operator (story here). Prior auctions of Tranlee assets fetched hundreds of millions of baht last year (story here).

Interested buyers can view the property a day before the auction from 9:30am to 4pm at the Region 8 Police office in Mai Khao.

For further information, check the AMLO website here or call 1710.

— Kongleaphy Keam