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Chinese ‘tourists’ arrested in Phuket for illegally operating foreign exchange online

webfact

By webfact
in Phuket News

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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Posted

Chinese ‘tourists’ arrested in Phuket for illegally operating foreign exchange online

 

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Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn Kumthieng presenting news of the arrests in Bangkok today (Nov 21). Photo: Immigration Bureau

 

PHUKET: Five Chinese nationals have been arrested for illegally operating an online foreign-exchange (“FOREX”) brokerage from a residential housing estate in Phuket.

 

The arrests were announced by Immigration Bureau Chief Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang at a press conference in Bangkok today (Nov21).

 

Also present in Bangkok to present news of the arrests today was Phuket Immigration Chief Col Kathathorn Kumthieng.


Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/chinese-tourists-arrested-in-phuket-for-illegally-operating-foreign-exchange-online-73705.php#lJsk0FDZGYlUCHly.99 

 

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-- © Copyright Phuket News 2019-11-21
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madmitch Platinum Member

madmitch

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Does every Immigration office have it's own vinyl poster printing machine? How else do they get these posters printed so quickly? Unless they are done in advance at the local print shop, in which case if I were on overstay or operating a dodgy racket I'd be there every day checking my mugshot wasn't all over one of them!

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J Town Platinum Member

J Town

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Posted
13 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Does every Immigration office have it's own vinyl poster printing machine? How else do they get these posters printed so quickly? Unless they are done in advance at the local print shop, in which case if I were on overstay or operating a dodgy racket I'd be there every day checking my mugshot wasn't all over one of them!

Maybe they make a poster then "find" criminals that fit the bill?

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Just Weird Gold Member

Just Weird

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6 hours ago, madmitch said:

Does every Immigration office have it's own vinyl poster printing machine? How else do they get these posters printed so quickly? Unless they are done in advance at the local print shop, in which case if I were on overstay or operating a dodgy racket I'd be there every day checking my mugshot wasn't all over one of them!

They had plenty of time to arrange their presentation!...

"Acting on a tip-off, Phuket Immigration officers raided a house...on Oct 31, Gen Sompong said".

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Classic Ray Silver Member

Classic Ray

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Using a projector and screen would be far more environmentally friendly, but would depend on the presenters having some basic IT skill.

 

Would also allow the police media liaison officer to send the presentation directly to the media outlets, doing away with the need for a press conference.

 

Aren't we in Thailand 4.0, or am I missing something here?

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stevenl Star Member

stevenl

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30 minutes ago, ICELANDMAN said:

As big joke has become famous for having put so many farang in jail, it observes how many young chickens want to become the new big joke

 

You realise this involves foreigners, not farang, right?

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Tropicalevo Diamond Member

Tropicalevo

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Thailand has been racist and xenophobic forever. Why is it suddenly a problem now? Thailand was like this before any of us came here.

I just with that my home country was more like Thailand and the way that Thailand treats illegal foreign workers and illegal immigrants. Instead, back home, illegals are given cash handouts and somewhere to live, all paid for with my tax money.

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peter14 Explorer Member

peter14

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Thailand do not want foreigner in Thailand . why  because we are educating  the wife.. the gf  the people in general  from the outside world. Thailand wants only farmer to get the grip on the people  .....education is dangerous.  Foreigner is dangerous.

 

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Duck J Butters Apprentice Member

Duck J Butters

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11 hours ago, impulse said:

So, let's see...  Online business.  Customers overseas. 

 

Sounds a lot like the businesses that so many digital nomads claim are perfectly legal.

 

The Thais aren’t stupid. Their economy would quite literally collapse overnight and never recover if they ever dared to target the digital nomad crew. Would be like pulling the bottom out of a giant Jenga tower that is called Thailand. Digital nomads are every country’s dream tourists. The Thais aren’t stupid. They know which farangs bring value. You definitely don’t want to boot out the foreigners that are spending north of $500k USD / year ( yes USD ) In your economy. That would be utter stupidity.

 

Doesn’t matter to digital nomads where they live. Booting them doesn’t even phase them one bit. It’s like “meh, whatever”. They can just as easily live in Bali as they can in Vietnam as they can in Russia as they can in the USA. Digital nomads can live in any country that will have them ( and “most” countries welcome them with arms wide open ). Why? They have a lot to bring to the table. They feed many mouths. The only people that will get hurt by going after such wealthy expats would be the Thais. I’ll believe it when I see it but I highly doubt the Thais are stupid enough to target “bread and butter” expats like DMs. But it’s like whatever, no biggy if they do.

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KKr Silver Member

KKr

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11 hours ago, impulse said:

So, let's see...  Online business.  Customers overseas. 

 

Sounds a lot like the businesses that so many digital nomads claim are perfectly legal.

 

indeed worth investigating what the rules are. 
first of all,
let me state that this looks like a boiler room operation,
and if so Kudos to the police for closing them down.

However, in the article there seems to be some confusion about the activities.
if Brokers, were their customers overseas and if so, where the transfers processed through the Thai banking system? did they receive commission or other remuneration in Thailand ?
If not brokers, i.e. position takers and traders, where was their company or SPV located, and where were the bank accounts, and where was the administration and accounting done ?
Did they have a permanent establishment in Thailand?
laptops are imho not a permanent establishment, and handwritten trading tickets are not documents, so are proof of what, unless they are followed up by binding contracts from the Thai locations to the customers.
did they provide margin trading or other trading services to Thai customers ?

If none of the above was in Thailand, then the activities, whether criminal or not, took place outside of Thailand, and in analogy with the Australian case, that does not concern Thailand, then what were they raided for?

Having said that, as they apparently received an agreed fixed remuneration for conducting their activities in Thailand in Baht, they seem to have been in a working relationship with a "Boss ?" (LHS on slide) and it would be interesting whether there is a Thai bank account involved ( and who is the account owner ) what would be proof of a working relationship in Thailand.

That leaves a few questions:  
a) is a contractor who gets paid abroad by a foreign entity on job completion, and does not have a permanent contract, "working" ?  and what if he gets paid from abroad to a Thai bank account ?
b) is a business owner of a foreign company, who does receive some compensation abroad, deemed to be "working"? and if paid on a Thai Bank account ?
c) is a director of the supervisory board of a company in Thailand deemed to be "working" ?
(by definition, a non-exec director is deemed not to be working, hence the non-executive title.)

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theequalizer Rookie Member

theequalizer

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And the current administration of the Philippines recently said that the people should eventually begin to trust the Chinese. Why should they trust China? Communist China is the world's leading producer of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine hydrochloride which they sell to drug lords operating in other countries. We are talking about a Communist country that executed or starved to death 40+ million of their own people. Even this very day they have at least 1 million people detained in internment camps. They spend little money on research and development, because they hack into military and corporate computers to steal technology. China has set up hundreds of illegal online gaming centers in the Philippines that are operated by illegals and they pay no taxes. China has been land grabbing for centuries and they are continuing to do so in the South China Sea.  

Note to J Town's signature: Yes I am opposed to President Obama's and Vice President Biden's demanding that a desperate foreign nation get involved in the politics of another nation.

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jackdd Platinum Member

jackdd

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19 hours ago, impulse said:

So, let's see...  Online business.  Customers overseas. 

 

Sounds a lot like the businesses that so many digital nomads claim are perfectly legal.

 

Sent to work in Thailand for a 20k THB salary, provided with accommodation and office space in Thailand. Not having a business registered abroad (because not allowed to), so effectively running a business in Thailand.

I think "online" is the only thing they have in common with the usual digital nomads, everything else is different.

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impulse Star Member

impulse

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4 minutes ago, jackdd said:
19 hours ago, impulse said:

So, let's see...  Online business.  Customers overseas. 

 

Sounds a lot like the businesses that so many digital nomads claim are perfectly legal.

Sent to work in Thailand for a 20k THB salary, provided with accommodation and office space in Thailand. Not having a business registered abroad (because not allowed to), so effectively running a business in Thailand.

I think "online" is the only thing they have in common with the usual digital nomads, everything else is different.

 

I'm not making a definitive statement about the legality or the circumstances.  Just pointing out the vagaries of Thai rules and the risks people take when they play in the gray areas.  I'm sure there are factors at play here that will never be mentioned in the press. 

 

My suspicion is that one of 2 things happened here.  1) The Chinese government detected their cross border activity and asked Thailand to put a stop to it.  2) They got sideways with someone of status in Thailand who dropped a dime on them.

 

If I were to be making a point, it's that #2 can happen to anyone making money online from LOS.

 

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ThomasThBKK Silver Member

ThomasThBKK

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21 hours ago, impulse said:

So, let's see...  Online business.  Customers overseas. 

 

Sounds a lot like the businesses that so many digital nomads claim are perfectly legal.

 

https://www.samuiforsale.com/law-texts/thailand-currency-exchange-control-act.html

 

 

No it isn't, you need a foreign currency exchange license. For pretty much every financial business you need a license, in all parts of the world. You can't just take funds from someone - finance is super regulated.

Same for bitcoin exchanges etc here - they are all licensed.

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impulse Star Member

impulse

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4 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

https://www.samuiforsale.com/law-texts/thailand-currency-exchange-control-act.html

 

No it isn't, you need a foreign currency exchange license. For pretty much every financial business you need a license, in all parts of the world. You can't just take funds from someone - finance is super regulated.

Same for bitcoin exchanges etc here - they are all licensed.

 

Why would Thailand care, if all your business is overseas?

 

Look at my post #28 for the long version...

 

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