'Gang kwai' fleeces gamblers

'Gang kwai' fleeces gamblers

Network of con artists dupes Thais out of millions a year by exploiting their greed

Thira: Has taken 'millions' from gamblers
Thira: Has taken 'millions' from gamblers

Buffalo gangs, or gang kwai, as they are known locally, are among criminal syndicates being tracked down by the Crime Suppression Division, though their offences have nothing to do with buffalo theft.

The name kwai, or buffalo, which has a connotation of being "stupid" in a Thai context, is used by southerners to describe people who easily fall prey to the gambling gangs which take this name.

The gangs con their victims out of large losses, by exploiting their greed. They mainly prey on victims in the South, though their activities have in fact been reported nationwide, police say.

The Crime Suppression Division police say the gangs cause losses worth millions of baht a year and potentially cripple their victims financially, according to acting chief Akkharadet Phimonsi.

Despite their provincial sounding name, the gangs are thought to number among the largest criminal networks.

The search for gang kwai began after Pol Col Akkharadet heard that many people in Phangnga, Phuket, Krabi, Songkhla and Phatthalung provinces had lost money to the gamblers.

The first clues about the the gang came from a couple who lodged a complaint with Ranot police in Songkhla over a con committed by a man identifying himself as "Thira" and his accomplices, said CSD's sub-division 6 chief Somphong Suwanwong, who was assigned by Pol Col Akkharadet to look into the case.

The complainants, whose names were not released, said Mr Thira first approached them by saying he wanted to lease part of their land to put up a mobile phone signal tower. Mr Thira promised to pay high rent, which caught the couple's attention.

They agreed to discuss the lease deal further with a man believed to be Mr Thira's boss at a resort in Ranot district. His was later identified as Phangphakan Kanchanasakdinakun. It was at this resort that a plot to fool the couple into gambling was carried out, according to an investigation.

The talk about the rental was just a lure as, once at the resort, the couple were led to a room where Mr Thira's group were playing kam thua, a type of gambling in which players have to guess the amount of beans or buttons at stake.

Mr Thira's group asked the couple to join the game. The gang members acted as if they were not good at playing to convince the couple they could easily win.

The couple decided to take what they thought was a small risk in exchange for large amount of money. But in just less than three hours, they had lost up to one million baht.

They continued playing, hoping to win their money back, but the result was the same. The couple lost and had to transfer about 3.1 million baht more to a Bangkok Bank account belonging to a woman named Sutthini Phakchan.

Mr Thira's group fled after the game, which is when the couple realised they had fallen victim to a gambling ring.

Ranot police asked the court to issue a warrant for Mr Thira's arrest.

CSD investigators found Mr Thira had a long record. He was accused of colluding in fraud and faced an arrest warrant issued by Takuapa Provincial Court in July last year. He was also wanted by Police Regions 7, 8 and 9 on eight warrants.

Pol Col Somphong decided to lure him out with gambling.

The officers spread a rumour among suspected gang members about a wealthy man who wanted to make some quick money.

A plainclothes police officer pretended he was a rich man and made himself appear as if he could be easily fooled into gambling.

The plot worked as Mr Thira believed he was going to snare a new victim. They agreed to meet and their meeting ended up with Mr Thira being arrested at a petrol station in Phangnga's Thai Muang district on May 28.

The suspect, who was identified as Thira Thawon, 55, a Phuket resident, allegedly admitted he had duped people for eight years and made about 100 million baht from victims nationwide, according to an investigation. In Ranot district alone, his gang made up to 4.2 million baht.

Police are searching for other accomplices in gang kwai, said Central Investigation Bureau chief Thitirat Nonghanpitak, insisting the gang and other large criminal networks must be eradicated.

"We believe there are about 70 or 80 similar gangs, each of which have four or five members," Pol Col Somphong said.

"These gangs may be connected as some gang members may be 'borrowed' to work in other gangs," he said.


Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th 

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