Pol Gen Kittharath announced yesterday (May 28) measures to combat prostitution rings run by foreign nationals in Thailand by saying that pre-entry screening measures have been put in place, including a digital arrival card, reports the Bangkok Post.
This measure is a collaboration between the Immigration Bureau (IB) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Travellers’ data will then be matched with data from foreign embassies to determine whether the person is on a watch list or a blacklist.
Data will be sent to the Tourist Police and local police units, allowing them to search and track the individuals later.
Those who enter Thailand on a tourist or student visa will also be scrutinised, he said.
When asked about Bangkok’s night entertainment areas where foreign prostitution rings were found to have emerged in areas such as Sukhumvit, Soi Cowboy and Nana, he said the measures currently in place will help solve issues of transnational criminals and human trafficking.
Meanwhile, cyber crime investigators arrested a 50-year-old Bulgarian identified as Ivan Valchev for installing devices that disrupted a total of 13 ATMs.
Pol Maj Gen Siriwat Deepor, chief of Cybercrime Investigation Division 1, said this followed reports from banks about foreign suspects disguised as ATM repairmen who used masterkeys to access and alter data transmission lines.
The criminals used fake cables embedded with a “jackpot” virus, controlled via SIM-based internet signals, to disrupt ATM functions and potentially threaten national economic security, he said. Police located Mr Valchev through rental car records.