Sixteen Chinese nationals alleged to be members of a phone scam gang were arrested on Saturday during a police raid on the east side of Pattaya City.

A Thai maid who looked after the four houses in a compound in Nong Prue was also taken in for questioning.

Police searched the houses at 9am on Saturday after receiving a tip-off that Chinese phone scammers had rented the premises for more than 3 months.

The police team found 12 Chinese men and four women inside, along with the Thai maid.

The maid told police that she was paid 7,000 baht a month to buy food and clean the houses. She said she knew very little about the Chinese tenants, other than that they were being paid 10,000 yuan (48,600 baht) a month each.

Police seized some computers, many mobile phones and a safe. A new Toyota Alphard was found parked in the compound. All 17 people arrested were held in police custody for questioning and legal action.

A security guard told police that most of the Chinese spent most of their time inside the houses.