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A broke British tourist allegedly faked his own abduction to extort money from his family back in England.
Identified only as ‘Ian’, the man plotted his ‘kidnapping’ alongside his friends after he ran out of money to prolong his holiday in the tourist destination of Pattaya, eastern Thailand.
Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau began a frantic search after Ian’s family reached out to Interpol about his supposed abduction for ransom.
After officers traced Ian’s whereabouts to a hotel in the Pattaya – dubbed ‘Sin City’ for its adult nightlife industry – they sent the armed ‘Hanuman’ special operations team to free him from his ‘captors’.
Upon entering the room where Ian was being ‘held’, police instead found him safe and reportedly taking drugs with three other foreigners as part of a two-day binge.
Police Major General Montree Theskhan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, said four people, including Ian, were arrested on January 26.
Brit Ian lied to his family and claimed he was abducted (Picture: ViralPress)
The group of men are now facing drugs and possession of a gun charges (Picture: ViralPress)
Ian and three other men were arrested after their fake ransom calls were found out (Picture: ViralPress)
The group was arrested on charges of jointly possessing unauthorised firearms and ammunition, possession of category one drugs, and overstaying in Thailand.
Police Major Genera Theskhan added: ‘Time and staff resources were spent following the case to rescue the British man. We acted quickly because there were fears for his safety.
‘When the police arrived, he was doing something illegal himself. He will now be prosecuted.’
The other suspects were identified as French national Damien, New Zealander Benjamin, and another British man named Darren.
Police said Ian and his group of three friends had been living in Thailand for an extended period.
But when his travel funds were depleted, Ian decided to trick his family into sending money before authorities foiled his plans.
A loaded gun was found in the room(Picture: ViralPress)
A highly skilled team was deployed to the hotel (Picture: ViralPress)
The tourists were taken to the Pattaya City Police Station for prosecution.
Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on ‘rest’ breaks in the 1960s when the U.S. military had bases in Thailand.
In the years following, the coastal resort transformed into a sex-based tourism destination.
Officials have made progress in gentrifying the region with family tourism projects but a ravenous nightlife industry and corrupt police has hampered their efforts.
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