A famous series director admitted his greed was a lesson, revealing that real life was scarier than murder movies after being abducted by a scam gang from Thailand to Poipet, forced to facially scan, and detained for over half a month. Tags: [scam, abduction, Poipet, facial recognition, detention, crime]
On 12 April 2026, “Art,” a famous series director, along with Mr. Prin and Ms. Nui, filed a complaint at the Technology Crime Suppression Division 1, reporting that a scam gang lured them into an investment scheme before taking them to Poipet to perform facial scans for mule accounts from 14 to 29 March.Tags: [complaint, scam, investment fraud, Poipet, Technology Crime Suppression Division]
Mr. Art said he encountered an advertisement inviting him to invest in stock trading, promising that investing 30,000 baht would yield returns of up to 150,000 baht. He decided to drive there with his boyfriend, ignoring his boyfriend’s concerns about safety and fears of a scam. He said he initially only communicated with a page admin in Sa Kaeo province and stayed at a resort in Aranyaprathet district.Tags: [investment scam, stock trading, warning ignored, Sa Kaeo, Aranyaprathet]
On the morning of 14 March, a man driving a pickup truck picked them up and took them to a village headman’s house. Another vehicle then picked them up, but when passing a military checkpoint, they were forced to get out and had to run for about 30 more minutes.Tags: [abduction, military checkpoint, forced disembarkation, village headman]
After crossing into Cambodia, they were picked up by two more vehicles in succession and taken to a casino in Poipet. There, they were forced to facially scan to open eight bank accounts totaling more than 100,000 baht. They were separated, with armed men intimidating and coercing them by showing them a freezer and threatening electric shock and organ trafficking, causing Mr. Art to feel terrified throughout the 15 days. His boyfriend had two bank accounts but could not conduct transactions because they were not linked to his ID number.Tags: [cross-border abduction, forced facial scan, bank accounts, threats, intimidation, organ trafficking threat]
Upon returning to Thailand, Mr. Art was arrested and charged with illegal entry into the kingdom without permission and fined 1,600 baht.Tags: [illegal entry, arrest, fine, Thailand]
Meanwhile, Mr. Prin said he suffered similarly but was sent back on 22 March, having spent 8 days in Poipet. He was released earlier because his accounts were of no use to the scam gang.Tags: [victim statement, early release, Poipet, scam gang]
Mr. Art admitted that his greed led him to want money to reinvest in the entertainment industry. He had previously spent money on cancer and heart disease treatments, which impaired his judgment regarding social media messages. Previously, he was a series director focusing on romance, but his experience was scarier than death or murder movies.Tags: [greed, regret, health issues, impaired judgment, entertainment industry, personal reflection]
Police Major General Siriwat Deepho, commander of Technology Crime Suppression Division 1, revealed that investigations are expanding to all suspects, as some steps occurred within Thailand. Regarding the missing vehicle case, it has been recovered. Authorities are treating the vehicle case separately from the mule account scam. So far, no evidence shows the victim’s accounts were used to defraud others.Tags: [police statement, investigation, suspects, vehicle recovery, mule accounts, fraud]