8 hours ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Indeed, there seems to be more of this kind of thing going on, Thai immigration need to do better vetting of incoming foreigners?

I am thinking which countries immigration can do a successful vetting of incoming foreigners? Just look around, and see the countries that have almost commixed suicide due to foreigners.

11 hours ago, Effective altruism said:

Thailand is becoming a top destination for quality criminals. I look forward to reading the news once the direct flights from India to Chiang Mai begin.

These were Thai criminals.

3 hours ago, Kinnock said:

So the police could locate the townhouse even though the criminals used a satellite phone routed via UAE?

Then they arrive just as the kidnappers left?

Perhaps the victim's families had already paid a ransom, and they were given the address and passed it to the police, who arrived to 'rescue' the victims after the kidnappers were safely on their way?

Just a theory, and I hope the police managed to find them before a ransom was paid, and I hope they catch the kidnappers before they leave for Pakistan, but we don't seem to have the full story.

Did the victims mention "Pakistan"???

7 hours ago, Xonax said:

That's what happens, when all nationalities are randomly invited to visit Thailand. Thailand never had a plan to keep the criminals from entering disguised as tourists.

So which country has managed to keep criminals from visiting? How?

15 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

These were Thai criminals.

"Through an interpreter, the men told police they were tied up by five men, believed to be four Pakistani nationals and one Indian national"......they dont sound Thai.

29 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

These were Thai criminals.

Was it mentioned anywhere? Sorry I missed it.

11 hours ago, omega2017 said:

70.000 THB for a 7 day tour is not cheap.

Maybe deliberately exorbitantly priced to target high value victims.

UPDATE

Five Indians arrested over Pattaya tourist kidnapping

On 7/28/2026 at 8:29 AM, SingAPorn said:

Very bad image for tourism in Thailand once again

Soon no tourist will go to Thailand Phuket is disgusting and many more places are being taken over by Russian and Chinese mafia, now Pakistan mafia what a mess this country is turning into now the land of of criminals not los anymore

22 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

Thai Police have successfully pulled off a covert operation where agents posed as tourists to foil a kidnap / extortion plot. This resulted in a 100% end to any threat of this type of crime, and demonstrates the deep capability of the Thai law enforcement teams to maximize AI assisted research and convert it to action with well coordinated "sting" operations. Thailand remains the Hub of Safety for Tourism!

That is some seriously excellent sarcasm......GOOD one....!!!

On 7/28/2026 at 11:39 AM, mfd101 said:

On 7/28/2026 at 10:55 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

They were poor? Just flown in from India for a holiday touring Thailand!

Doesn't make them rich

I didn't say that it did. I did, however, suggest that they're probably not poor as was, slightly ridiculously, claimed.

On 7/28/2026 at 8:24 AM, mfd101 said:

Not much point in holding poor people to ransom (risk vs reward)!

"During questioning, the suspects allegedly confessed that the operation had been directed by a Pakistani national. They told investigators they would receive only property taken from the victims, while money transferred by the victims was sent as cryptocurrency to an account controlled by the alleged organiser"

11 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

Soon no tourist will go to Thailand Phuket is disgusting and many more places are being taken over by Russian and Chinese mafia, now Pakistan mafia what a mess this country is turning into now the land of of criminals not los anymore

yes because cheating foreigners is solely a reserved job for the locals 😂