Police in Pattaya have arrested four men — two Thai nationals and two Chinese nationals — for abducting and extorting a Chinese tourist in a brazen incident that unfolded earlier this week.
The victim, 52-year-old Lin, was kidnapped on July 10 while standing outside a noodle shop on Pattaya Sai Sam Road. Four men posing as police officers arrived in an SUV, confronted Lin, and forced him into their vehicle.
Inside the SUV, the suspects accused Lin of being connected to a call centre scam and threatened him with a firearm. They demanded he transfer 100,000 baht and also stole 15,000 baht in cash and two mobile phones valued at over 100,000 baht.
The gang later abandoned Lin beside a railway track near a shooting range at around 6 a.m. Lin immediately went to Mueang Pattaya Police Station to file a complaint.
Pattaya police launched an investigation, reviewing CCTV footage along the route from the noodle shop to the spot where Lin was dumped. Detectives tracked the suspicious SUV to a shopping mall in South Pattaya, where cameras captured two bald men exiting the vehicle, followed by two others wearing red and white shirts. One suspect was recorded wiping paint off the SUV’s registration plate in an apparent attempt to obscure the vehicle’s identity before driving away.
On July 13, officers arrested all four suspects: 37-year-old Chinese national Han Longding, 63-year-old Chinese national Lin Yifan, 35-year-old Thai national Siripong Chiablaem, and 28-year-old Thai national Thitipong Pongpiriyakun.
During questioning, the suspects claimed they had been hired by another Chinese national to carry out the kidnapping and extortion. Police have seized the SUV used in the crime and continue to search for the stolen cash and mobile phones.
Pattaya authorities noted that a similar incident occurred on Pattaya Sai Sam Road in September last year. In that case, a Chinese victim was violently assaulted by more than 10 fellow countrymen, leaving him permanently blinded. The attackers had attempted to force the man into a minivan, reportedly as part of an extortion plot, and stole a limited-edition necklace valued at around 2 million baht.
Police said they are working to determine whether there is any link between the two cases and warned that crimes targeting tourists have become a significant concern in the region.
The investigation into the latest incident remains ongoing.
