CHIANG MAI– Police officers from the Region 5 Technology Crime Suppression Centre arrested a Chinese-led call centre gang along with their Thai cash mules at a well-known Chiang Mai shopping centre. The group was caught in the act of withdrawing stolen money from an ATM.
Police seized 1,539,000 baht in cash . They revealed that the money was connected to a recent scam targeting a minimart owner in Nakhon Sawan, who lost 2.7 million baht after being tricked into investing in a fake promotional app.
On 27 August 2025, at the Region 5 Technology Crime Suppression Centre in Chiang Mai, Pol. Lt. Gen. Krityapol Yeesaakorn, Commissioner of Region 5 Provincial Police, along with Pol. Maj. Gen. Thawatchai Pongwiwatchai, Deputy Commissioner, questioned the suspects.
The group included Mr Zhang Rui (37) and Mr Mingxi Yi (29), both Chinese nationals, along with Ms Rawiwan Rengrakngam (33) and Mr Sarapong Thanyasathien (27), both from Chiang Mai. They had been detained inside a central Chiang Mai mall, with the police recovering the stolen cash.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Krityapol explained that on 24 August 2025, police learned that two Chinese men had entered Thailand from the Lao border at Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai. The group checked into a hotel near the Chiang Mai city moat. Investigators monitored their movements.
On 25 August, around 1 pm, they spotted Zhang Rui, Mingxi Yi, Rawiwan Rengrakngam, and Sarapong Thanyasathien. The suspects went to a Siam Commercial Bank branch at Central Chiang Mai Airport shopping centre to withdraw cash. Officers from the technology crime team questioned them about the bank transactions and took them for further investigation.
During the search, police found 1,539,000 baht in cash, five mobile phones, six bankbooks, and a bank transaction slip.
Mr Zhang Rui and Mr Mingxi Yi admitted that they had taken orders from an unnamed Chinese boss. Their job was to collect cash from the Thai mules and deliver it to people in Thailand based on their boss’s instructions.
For this, they were paid about 45,000 baht a month, deducted from the amount delivered. They said they had completed this task more than three times, moving a total of about five million baht.
Ms Rawiwan Rengrakngam told officers that she followed orders from Mrs Meme Latsamivong, a Lao national, who contacted her through Line. Her role was to manage mule accounts, arrange meetings, escort the money mules, take them to the bank, wait for the withdrawals, help collect the cash, and then hand it over to Mr Zhang Rui.
She was paid 2,000 baht for her work. Previously, she had also been paid to open accounts and withdraw cash, totalling more than four million baht.
Mr Sarapong Thanyasathien admitted that Ms Rawiwan approached him to withdraw cash using his own account, for 8,000 baht each time. Interested in the offer, he agreed and later completed his first transaction at the bank branch while Ms Rawiwan supervised. After withdrawing the cash, the group passed it on to Mr Zhang Rui and Mr Mingxi Yi.
The suspects had recently deceived a 62-year-old minimart owner into investing in a fraudulent app, leading her to lose 2.7 million baht. They tried to withdraw and deliver the funds to their boss before the police caught them.
Police officers have charged the group with fraud, computer crimes, arranging bank accounts and electronic cards for illegal use, and criminal association. Police will continue to investigate to find other members of the scam and are preparing to return the seized assets to the victims.
