Phuket police probe recovers 17 stolen cars

[FarangRed]

Several of the cars recovered were stolen from Phuket rental agencies. Photo: Pitak Chansatien

The 17 cars were recovered from a 'car pawn shop' in a rubber plantation in Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The shop owner denied any knowledge that the cars had been stolen. Photo: Pitak Chansatien

PHUKET: An investigation by Phuket Police has led to the recovery of 17 stolen cars from a warehouse in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, including several from car rental agencies based in Phuket.

Chalong Police Deputy Superintendent Boonlert Onklang told the Phuket Gazette that he initially received two theft complaints filed by car rental agency owners Pattarisiri Manokham and Boonying Thonglor.

The owners had rented out the two cars to women identifying themselves as Sukanya Janthanarak, 40, and Supaluck Krutmanee, 44. The women left Thai ID cards before driving off with the vehicles, one a Toyota Fortuner for one month for 70,000 baht.

The complaints were filed after the return date passed and the agencies were unable to contact the women by phone.

A third victim, Pitak Chansatien, filed a similar complaint shortly thereafter when three vehicles were not returned to his agency in Kata.

“Sukanya and Supaluck came to my shop to rent a car for three days. When the due date arrived, they called and said they wanted to extend the rental period and transferred money. They appeared to be quite honest, so I believed them,” he said.

“Not long after they rented the first car, they came back and rented two more for foreign boyfriends. In all, they rented two Honda City cars and one Toyota Vios from me,” he said.

All three cars were rented out for one month, with scheduled return dates in mid-March.

When the vehicles were not returned, he also reported the thefts to Lt Col Boonlert.

Fortunately, Mr Boonying’s Vios had a GPS transmitter, which allowed police to locate it in a rubber plantation in the Phromkiri District of Nakhon Sri Thammarat.

Maj Gen Werasak Menawanit, head of the Region 8 Police investigation unit, led investigators to the home of a man named Thanatat Eakkabutra.

“Behind his house is a big warehouse, where all of the cars were kept. Our investigation revealed the warehouse was a pawn shop for cars. If any person failed to claim back their vehicle, he sold it off to dealers,” explained Maj Gen Werasak.

The cars were from many provinces across the South, and as far north as Bangkok, including “six or seven” from Phuket. Police seized all 17 vehicles pending investigation.

Ten of the cars were deposited there by Sukanya and Supaluck, the investigators found.

Mr Thanatat claimed to know nothing about his best customers and said he ran a legitimate business, said Maj Gen Werasak.

“The duo are still at large. We found out that they changed their names more than 20 times, in many different provinces. They gave their identification cards to the agencies, then applied for new ones under new names,” he added.

“We hope we can find them soon,” he said.

After learning that stolen cars were recovered from the warehouse, Mr Pitak traveled to Phromkiri Police Station in the hope that all three vehicles would be there.

“I found only two of my cars. I think the third may have been sold already,” he said.

[bakseedar]

'One a Toyota Fortuner for one month for 70,000 baht.'

Rental company's alarm bells should've been ringing when a THAI agreed to pay that much......Wonder how much they charge Farang !!

Always nice to see a robber, robbed.

[FarangRed]

Phuket scam artists boost another 14 cars
Phuket Gazette – Thursday, March 29, 2012 900 PM

DUDE, WHERE'S MY CAR? Phuket resident Anan Jutamas holds up a photo taken by Customs officers on the border checkpoint at Mae Sai showing the three men who tried to take his car out of the country and into Myanmar (inset). Photo: Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai

Also taken advantage of was Lakana Omchompu, owner of Ice Fashion car rental in front of Surakul Stadium. She said she lost eight cars to the pair. Photo: Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai

PHUKET: Following the recovery of 17 stolen cars from a “car pawn yard” in Nakhon Sri Thammarat earlier this week, a host of Phuket car rental agents gathered late last night to highlight the extent of scam operation.

Collectively, the group claim that at least 14 more cars have been stolen by the alleged scam artists, identified as Sukanya Janthanarak (also see here), 40, and Supaluck Krutmanee, 44.

One Phuket rental car agent’s Toyota Fortuner was caught by Customs officials at Mai Sai as three men tried to take the car out of Thailand and into Myanmar.

Another rental operator said she had lost eight cars to the scammers.

Yet another rental agent said she was challenged by Sukanya to deposit 300,000 baht into a government bank account if she wanted to get her car back after Sukanya claimed she lost it to a casino over a gambling debt.

Speaking at the Phuket Press Club office at Phuket Provincial Hall late last night, Anan Jutamas said he rented his car out through his friend’s business, Phuket Kuya Car Rent.

“My friend told me that customers wanted to rent my two cars. I found out later that the customers were Sukanya and Supaluck, and they rented the cars on March 19,” said Mr Anan.

“I installed GPS on one car [a Toyota Fortuner] and I kept checking the signal to see where it was. Then when I checked again, the signal said the car was at Mae Sai, in Chiang Rai province, so I thought something was wrong.

“The GPS system I installed allows me to shut off the ignition from home. So I did that and reported my car as stolen to the Mae Sai Police,” he added.

“By the time they found my car, it had been impounded by Customs officers who seized it from three men trying to take it into Myanmar. They didn’t have the ownership book to prove they owned the car, so they were arrested and now my car is being held by Mae Sai Customs.

“Meanwhile, my other car has no GPS installed and it is still missing,” Mr Anan said.

Mr Anan’s friend Kuya Kumuda, who owns Phuket Kuya Car Rent, also had cars stolen.

“Miss Sukanya and Miss Supaluck said they wanted to rent three cars for their foreign customers. Since I had GPS installed on all three cars, I wasn’t scared to rent them out,” he said.

Two of the cars were recovered from the raid on the Nakhon Sri Thammarat “pawn yard”, but his Fortuner is still missing.

“The GPS showed the vehicle was being driven around Ao Luek in Krabi, but the signal stopped on March 13,” he said.

“I went there myself and asked around. I found the house where people said my car was parked each day, but the house belongs to a person named “Nong”, who said she knew nothing about Sukanya and Supaluck,” he added.

“I also talked to local residents and some car rental places in that area, and they said the last time they saw my car it was marked for sale at 350,000 to 370,000 baht. But no one wanted to buy it since the car didn’t come with the ownership book,” Mr Kuya said.

No one has seen his car since.

Lakana Omchompu, owner of Ice Fashion car rental in front of Surakul Stadium, said she lost eight cars to the pair.

“The first time Sukanya rented a car from me was in August last year. She said she wanted to rent my cars to other people and that I would have guaranteed monthly income if I rented cars to her.

“I trusted her because she gave me 30,000 baht in advance plus 30,000 baht as a guarantee deposit, but after paying this money she never came back. I never thought about installing GPS in any of my cars, but I might consider it now,” she added.

Ms Lakana said another woman had recently rented a car from her, and that she was wary of being caught out again.

“Another person came to rent another car. She identified herself as Miss Janthip Saeheab. I think they are all related,” she added.

Kwanjai Kaewsapab, who so far has lost a Toyota Fortuner and a Proton sedan to the scam, has likely had the most success in tracking down the tricksters.

“On March 6, a friend contacted me saying a woman wanted to rent a car from me. So I met this woman at the Tesco Lotus store in Cherng Talay. The woman identified herself as Miss Duangporn Suwan,” she said.

“I agreed to rent my Fortuner to her at 45,000 baht a month, from March 6 to April 5. Two days later she called me back and said she wanted to rent my Proton at 18,000 baht for one month, from March 8 to April 7.

“Then on March 10, I called her just to tell her that the registration sticker was in the glove box, but she didn’t answer my phone,” she said.

Sensing something was wrong, Ms Kwanjai double-checked the photocopy of the ID card she was given by “Miss Duangporn” and then returned to the Tesco Lotus in Cherng Talay to check CCTV footage of the day she met her.

“That’s when I realized that the woman I met and rented my car out to was not the Miss Duangporn Suwan I have the photocopy of the ID card for.

“I reported this to Cherng Talay Police, and while I was literally sitting in the police station, this woman [Sukanya] called me and told me that both of my cars were at a casino.

“She said she had lost them gambling and had to leave the cars there. She also said that if I wanted my cars back, I would have to transfer 300,000 baht to her bank account,” Ms Kwanjai said.

Ms Kwanjai handed the phone over to a police officer, who pretended to be a bank teller.

“She gave the number of her account at the Government Savings Bank, then the police officer and I went to the bank. The branch manager printed out a copy of the ID card provided to open the account and that’s when I learned that the person I dealt with was Miss Sukanya Janthanarak,” she added.

Ms Kwanjai may have finally come up with a photo and ID card details of the wanted scam artist, “but I still haven’t got my cars back,” she said tearfully.

Taxi driver Jeerasak Kakate also lost a Fortuner to the scam.

“I had one extra car, which I rented out from in front of Ao Po Marina. I only let foreigners rent my car because they are easier to deal with,” said Mr Jeerasak.

“A friend contacted me on January 20 saying that a woman with a foreign boyfriend wanted to rent my car. Her name was Sukanya Janthanarak. So I let my friend deal with it. I agreed to rent my car to her for one month,” he added.

“After the month had passed, my friend called her and she said she wanted to rent the car until February 28. Then when that day came, she came to see me herself and told me she want to rent the car for even longer.

“She came all by herself. She said the car was in Nakhon Sri Thammarat and she paid the rental fee – that’s why I trusted her,” he explained.

“But after that, I tried for a week to contact her, but I couldn’t reach her,” he said.

He’s still waiting to hear from her.

All car rental operators present last night said they wanted the media to raise this issue with the public since the police officers have not been able to find their cars.

“We will be back to file a complaint about this to the Phuket Governor,” Ms Kwanjai said.

[t.s]

i certainly would not mind taking advantage of Lakana Omchompu.

that is if she isnt a geezer. hard to tell.