NAKHON RATCHASIMA — A 29-year-old transvestite accused of swindling money from men by posing as a beautiful woman online has been arrested in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Thanatcha Plangklang, 29, a resident of Non Sung district, was taken to the Jor Hor police station in Muang district of this northeastern province on Saturday.
The arrest followed complaints by several users of a chat application that they had been duped into transferring money to advance their relationship with a "beautiful young woman".
Police who looked into the complaints linked the chat account to Mr Thanatcha, a transvestite.
Thanatcha Plangklang (right) is interrogated at the Jor Hor police station in Nakhon Ratchasima on April 18.(Photo by Prasit Tangprasert)
Anek Srisuwan, 33, one of the victims, told police that the suspect had used an image of a beautiful woman as a profile picture on the chat account and told him that it was a genuine photo. He said that he had chatted with the suspect online for more than four months and that the latter had asked him to transfer money into "her" account several times.
Mr Anek said he also had several phone conversations via the chat app with Thanatcha. He had no suspicions as he heard a woman's voice during the conversations.
The suspect talked about their wedding and asked him to transfer 634,600 baht as dowry money, said Mr Anek, adding that he used his own savings and funds borrowed money from other people.
After the money was transferred, he tried in vain to persuade his online fiancee to meet him in person. He later found out that he had been tricked along with many other men.
Pol Maj Montri Hongklang, the chief investigator at the Jor Hor police station, said the investigation found that the suspect had preyed on men online for several years and most victims did not dare to file complaints.
The officer urged people who believed they may have been among the victims to come forward and identify Mr Thanatcha at the police station.
The suspect is being held in police custody pending further legal action.