Article 44 used as "unusually wealthy" man hauled off Koh Lipe by raiding party

 

Image: Thairath

 

KOH LIPE:-- A Thai man who authorities claim is really a Chinese national was arrested in Koh Lipe, Satun, in the far south of Thailand yesterday.

He is the boss of a 10,000 baht a night resort on the exclusive island.

He was taken to the Samantrat Burin fort for questioning by a group of soldiers, police and other officials led by the governor of the province Thatthongsak Phuphanthatsee. They used Article 44 to arrest him.

Investigators claim that Somporn Ekphairat, 41, is holding fake Thai ID and is really Chinese. They say he is "unusually wealthy" with assets in the 100 million baht range.

Also rounded up were three Burmese working at the resort amid claims that human trafficking was also going on.

Somporn was being held at the fort for questioning by a number of different agencies. 

 

Source: Thairath

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-10-01

Did he decide to stop handing over the brown envelopes?

Unusually wealthy? for a luxury resort owner? 

 

I would of thought there far more likely candidates to be hauled off for being unusually wealthy, perhaps some public sector employees who appear to have 100's of millions of assets.....

3 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

I would of thought there far more likely candidates to be hauled off for being unusually wealthy, perhaps some public sector employees who appear to have 100's of millions of assets.....

 

 

And they wouldn't have to leave the office to make those arrests.,

funny how those at the top of the tree seem to get "overly rich" overnight and nothing gets done, seems this guy is at least working for a living.

There's lot's of ' unusually wealthy ' people around so can we think Art 44 is to be used extensively or are some people to be exempt for reasons I just can't think of at the moment ?       

19 minutes ago, jamesbrock said:

Did he decide to stop handing over the brown envelopes?

 

No, but he's not handing them over to the new people in charge, so they don't count.

 

It's just more "messages" being sent. Same as with the cult people and others.

So because he's "unusually wealthy" and not Thai he's a criminal? The way Law is enforced in LOS.If you gonna be wealthy in Thailand make sure you are Thai!


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Let's hope they don't come on Thaivisa, and find all the alleged 'unusually wealthy' people on here.

6 minutes ago, kingalfred said:

So because he's "unusually wealthy" and not Thai he's a criminal? The way Law is enforced in LOS.If you gonna be wealthy in Thailand make sure you are Thai!


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And being a senior monk helps too.

1 minute ago, Thaiwrath said:

Let's hope they don't come on Thaivisa, and find all the alleged 'unusually wealthy' people on here.

 

Aren't all farangs wealthy though?

 

6 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Let's hope they don't come on Thaivisa, and find all the alleged 'unusually wealthy' people on here.

I,m going incognito

8 minutes ago, petermik said:

I,m going incognito

 

33 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Let's hope they don't come on Thaivisa, and find all the alleged 'unusually wealthy' people on here.

 

I am waiting for the arrest of the first TV farang with a fake Thai ID card...

Let's hope they don't come on Thaivisa, and find all the alleged 'unusually wealthy' people on here.

No don't be mislead the majority are penny pinching stingy bastards scratching their arse to keep themselves afloat.

Otherwise, they wouldn't whinge so much haha


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I'm unusually poor (actually quite usual in my case), I want 44 to be invoked so I can be dragged off to a 10,000 baht a night resort.

Edited October 1, 20169 yr by lemonjelly

In most countries, a man being arrested for falsely claiming citizenship to circumvent business laws would be well regarded news of authorities carrying out their duties. Here it is a source of derision, for some at least.

Unusually wealthy. If he got lifted for that there are lots of unusually wealthy government officials that should get their collars felt.

The entire "unusually wealthy" tag is only used on selective people..........if it were applied to all those people in high positions..whether political, military, business people.......the list would be from Thailand to the Arctic........but of course, they'll never really get serious.....or they themselves, would be dragged over the coals!!

 

3 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Unusually wealthy? 

 

Is that like a general on a 50,000thb a month salary that has hundreds of millions of Baht in the bank?

But didn't they marry rich wives ?

2 hours ago, mercman24 said:

funny how those at the top of the tree seem to get "overly rich" overnight and nothing gets done, seems this guy is at least working for a living.

Unless of course what was unusual is how he could afford the resort in the first place. 

 

If he's involved in human trafficking I hope he's put away for a long time. 

44 minutes ago, halloween said:

In most countries, a man being arrested for falsely claiming citizenship to circumvent business laws would be well regarded news of authorities carrying out their duties. Here it is a source of derision, for some at least.

 

The proceeds of this raid is going to make some "others" unusually rich.lol

2 hours ago, kingalfred said:

So because he's "unusually wealthy" and not Thai he's a criminal? The way Law is enforced in LOS.If you gonna be wealthy in Thailand make sure you are Thai!


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No, not that, it was because he is unusually wealthy and claiming to be a Thai using a fake ID.  The way the law is enforced in Thailand make sure you are not using a fake Thai ID.

2 hours ago, NongKhaiKid said:

And being a senior monk helps too.

 

That also results in arrest and/or serious investigation so, no, it doesn't help.

 

He's less wealthy than Prayut or his family. Yet he runs a high price resort, and they are soldiers. You tell me.

I don't know anything about the guy arrested. Maybe there's more to the story, but I just don't see what the justification for invoking article 44 is? 

11 minutes ago, gdgbb said:

 

No, not that, it was because he is unusually wealthy and claiming to be a Thai using a fake ID.  The way the law is enforced in Thailand make sure you are not using a fake Thai ID.

 

His crime is simple. A foreigner who purported he is Thai and using undeclared foreign funds to own land.

2 hours ago, kingalfred said:

So because he's "unusually wealthy" and not Thai he's a criminal?

 

If he is indeed Chinese and is using a Thai ID card, there is a pretty good chance that he is committing a criminal act.

 

"Unusually Wealthy" or not.

 

They normally use this term when figures of income and expenditure don't add up. Don't forget, this will be based on the name on the fake ID card, if that is actually the case.

17 minutes ago, trogers said:

 

His crime is simple. A foreigner who purported he is Thai and using undeclared foreign funds to own land.

 

It would appear simple at face value but the need to use art 44 suggests more to this than meets the eye.

5 minutes ago, Orac said:

 

It would appear simple at face value but the need to use art 44 suggests more to this than meets the eye.

 

Source of the foreign fund...money laundering is the first suspect...

Another story of a foreigner investing millions of Baht illegally in Thailand and loosing it... Next!