Seaman Wuthichai
Suebsunthorn, willing to pay to get out of military service, fell for a
common scam.
Patcharapol Panrak
A Royal Thai Navy conscript arrested for desertion claims he was
tricked by a fraudster claiming he could relieve him of military service
for a fee.
Seaman Wuthichai Suebsunthorn, 21, was apprehended outside an enlistment
camp in Khon Kaen Nov. 8, the day he was supposed to report for
transport to the Naval Recruit Training Center in Sattahip.
Wuthichai told navy officials that the day he was drafted in April, a
man approached his mother with an offer to relieve him of service for
50,000 baht. She would need to pay 20,000 first, then the balance on
reporting day. At that time, he’d be picked up in front of the
enlistment camp and driven to a safe location.
No ride was waiting for Wuthichai Nov. 8. Instead, an undercover
military officer appeared and arrested the conscript. Calls to the
mobile phone number given to Wuthichai’s mother went unanswered.
However, after the arrest, the scam artist refunded the 20,000 baht to
the suspect’s mother, telling her not to contract him again.
Naval investigator Capt. Pasworn Leksuntharakorn said the scam was a
common one, with at least four victims identified so far.
