Four Chinese men have been arrested for begging in Bangkok, with bogus stories to draw public sympathy that allowed them to earn 2,500 baht a day each.
Immigration police first caught Duan Yuanbiao, 60, following a tip-off about a man claiming to be deaf and holding a sign in Thai saying he was in need of money for his wife's medical treatment for leukemia.
They then arrested three other Chinese men, friends of Mr Duan, at a hotel in the Hua Lamphong area, the immigration chief told reporters on Thursday.
Mr Duan told police he was aware that Thais were kind and liked to make merit. So he made up a bogus story. He typed the story in Chinese and then translated it online into Thai and printed it out.
He earned about 2,500 baht a day for 10 hours of begging.
The four suspects lived in Hubei, China, and had entered Thailand repeatedly on 60-day tourist visas. When their stay expired, they would travel to Malaysia and Vietnam and beg there, before returning to Thailand.
