A CASH-strapped Brit tourist allegedly faked his own kidnapping to extort money from his family in the UK.
He allegedly plotted the fake abduction with his mates after running out of cash at the notorious “sex capital of the world” Pattaya, in Thailand.
ViralPressCops caught a Brit tourist, pictured on the floor, after he allegedly faked his own abduction to get more cash for his party holiday[/caption]
ViralPressThai police about to storm into the holidaymaker’s room[/caption]
AlamyThe man and his friends were on holiday in Pattaya, Thailand, known as a sex and booze capital[/caption]
It is alleged the holidaymaker, 49, asked his friends to pose as kidnappers while he sent fake videos and messages to his family demanding ransom.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Sorasak Saengcha, who lead the investigation at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said the man used iMessage and FaceTime to chat with his relatives in the UK.
“He sent pictures of himself being attacked, and then after with injuries, he took pictures of himself looking like he had been beaten up,” Lt. Col. Saengcha said.
“His friends would punch him and give him bruises on his faces, then he would video call his family on FaceTime.
“He asked his three friends to act like they were kidnappers holding him hostage. He made them wear masks in the videos and act like gangsters.
Lt. Col. Saengcha added that Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau was notified when the man’s frantic family reported to Interpol about his supposed abduction for ransom.
Cops found the group having a party and all men will now be deported as they were overstaying their visas.
The Sun has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
Pattaya is known as the sex and booze capital of the world, despite the Thai government crackdown to clean up the Asian sin city.
Thai tourism chiefs have vowed to clean up Pattaya by transforming it into a family-friendly Happy Zone.
More than a million men flock to its red light district each year and almost 20 per cent of the population are employed in the sex trade.
The number of female sex workers in Thailand was put at more than 120,000 in a 2014 UNAIDS report.
Some estimates run to double that and not all the women who get paid for sex are full-time prostitutes.
Governor Pakkaratorn Teianchai said on the infamous Walking Street: “I want people to see that we are not like what they say. We are not allowing prostitution in these entertainment places.”
As the politician spoke, women accosted foreign men to offer sex for 2000 baht (£50) just yards away.
Others lined up with numbers so customers could take their pick.
Girls in miniskirts offered ‘happy ending’ massages whose suggestive titles have nothing to do with the Happy Zone the authorities envisage.
Sex tourism began in Pattaya when it became an R&R spot for US soldiers during the Vietnam War, though prostitution is just as evident in parts of nearby Bangkok and other resorts.
Given a 305 baht (£7) a day minimum wage, the chance of earning several times more is an obvious lure, particularly in poorer rural regions.