Thai police have arrested a woman in Phuket accused of taking advance payments for villa rentals that did not exist. The suspect, Thanaporn, also known as Yu, was arrested on August 26 after complaints from two Russian tourists.

The tourists told police they had transferred 1.5 million baht and 500,000 baht respectively to secure villa accommodation before travelling to Phuket. On arrival, they reportedly found that no reservations had been made and were unable to contact the woman.

Police say Thanaporn was already wanted under three arrest warrants linked to similar alleged fraud offences. The total amount she may have obtained is estimated at about 5 million baht.

Russian tourists reported missing bookings

The case began with reports by the two Russian visitors, who had arranged and paid for high-value villa stays before reaching the island.

According to police, both tourists believed their accommodation had been booked in advance. However, there were no villa reservations in place when they arrived in Phuket, and the agent could no longer be reached.

Police cite three outstanding warrants

Police said Thanaporn was wanted on three warrants over similar fraud allegations before her arrest. They believe the alleged scheme may have generated around 5 million baht in total.

No further details were given about the other cases or the number of people who may have been affected.

Possible victims have been urged to contact Thalang Police Station and make a report. Anyone who believes they may have dealt with the same agent should retain payment records, booking messages and any advertised villa details when approaching police.

Picture courtesy of Phuketinsta

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28 August 2026

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1.5 million baht to secure villa accommodation?

What kind of villa that may be?

One could buy a good house for 1.5 million baht!

Russian people being that rich, where the money comes from in the middle of the war?

🤔

Edited Friday at 01:20 AM4 days by Hakuna Matata

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The tourists told police they had transferred 1.5 million baht and 500,000 baht respectively to secure villa accommodation before travelling to Phuket. On arrival, they reportedly found that no reservations had been made and were unable to contact the woman.

Welcome to scam-land

1.5 million for villa rental is big bucks. Must have been convincing advertising to part with that kind of cash in advance..

Sad day, the day Uncle Tu banned pointing.

Why was she out and free with all of her warrant’s? This is where the system fails continuously.

47 minutes ago, Hakuna Matata said:

1.5 million baht to secure villa accommodation?

What kind of villa that may be?

One could buy a good house for 1.5 million baht!

Russian people being that rich, where the money comes from in the middle of the war?

🤔

That's what I'm thinking 1,500,000 / 12 = 125,000 baht a month..

That must have been some pretty impressive advertisment.

Hopefully the fine people working at the CCIB can make quick work at finding her and ending this nonsense.

Probably a lot more of this going on in Thailand

People looking for quick and easy deals getting scammed

Greed plays a big part of this where money 🤑 is involved

Will not doubt hear more on this in the coming weeks months ect

I had the same problem when for the 1st time I booked a condo in Pattaya in 2024 via "booking .com". I arrived with my wife late in the afternoon from BKK only to find we could not pass security as they had no record of us on their books that we had a condo booked. Not good news, especially being in peak season.

The security guard tried to contact the owner as per our document we gave him, downloaded from Booking.com. He had no success. Luckily we found another Hotel after 2-3 hrs of searching.

As for Booking.com when I first called them to complain they also tried to contact the owner. As they also had no luck they quickly called us back and promised me a full refund and a discount on the motel I found above the condo rate.

Booking.com did a great job. Always book via that web

The big buck ukrainians are more into buying their villas and not renting. And often paid ca$h. From Phuket to Portugal...it's happening all over the world. How do they get all the cash ?

30 minutes ago, SingAPorn said:

The big buck ukrainians are more into buying their villas and not renting. And often paid ca$h. From Phuket to Portugal...it's happening all over the world. How do they get all the cash ?

This is about Russians, not Ukrainian's . Stop putting your Russian propaganda where it doesn't belong and put it where the sun don't shine.

I wonder where those Russians got that money from. All Russians are after all criminals.

Edited Friday at 09:33 AM4 days by gargamon

2 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

The big buck ukrainians are more into buying their villas and not renting. And often paid ca$h. From Phuket to Portugal...it's happening all over the world. How do they get all the cash ?

Yes, this is a good question!