A former award-winning teacher has been arrested on charges of duping more than 100 teachers through a Facebook scam advertising bookings for accommodations that he did not have.
A team of Metropolitan Police Bureau investigators and police Cyber Task Force Unit 5 arrested Wiwat Wongsa, 36, at a house in Bangkok on Thursday, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradet Thammasuthee, the MPB commander.
Mr Wiwat was a former Thai language teacher at a well-known school in Bangkok. He graduated from a famous university with first-class honours and won the Outstanding Thai Language Teacher Award in 2017.
However, in 2020 he was sacked from the school after his performance dropped and he did not show up for work for several days due to his addiction to online gambling, police said.
Without a job and money, he used his wits to turn to scamming, said investigators.
Mr Wiwat reportedly told police that he saw an opportunity when many teachers and students wanted to find accommodations when they travelled upcountry. He also posted a picture of himself in his civil servant uniform and used his high profile as an acclaimed teacher to establish credibility.
The most recent victims were a group of students and teachers who had booked accommodation in Nan for the 70th Student Arts and Crafts Competition from Feb 3-5.
The police said at least 100 teachers had been duped during the past year or so, causing damages of hundreds of thousands of baht.
In addition, investigators said, Mr Wiwat ran a sensual massage scam targeting LGBTQ customers. He had been on the run for years and changed his whereabouts every two weeks.
An undercover investigator posed as a customer and eventually tracked Mr Wiwat to a place in the Ram Intra area. Police arrested him on Thursday as he was preparing to move again.
Police said Mr Wiwat was wanted on four other arrest warrants for fraud in Nakhon Sawan and Samut Sakhon and in Bang Yi Rua and Wang Thonglang districts in Bangkok.
Mr Wiwat admitted all wrongdoings, also apologised to everyone and asked for a second chance as a volunteer teacher, police said.
