According to police, Ms Atitaya denied the allegation, saying she and other people worked together to build a facility to practise dhamma and that there was no swindling involved. She insisted she could not even withdraw money from the facility's bank account, police said. Pol Maj Gen Suthin said the facility was also located on land without a title deed, suggesting it is public land, and the police would look into the matter. Police were checking similar medium services around the country to see whether there was foul play. He also called on the public to be careful who they donate their money to. He noted many victims of similar scams have ended up deep in financial trouble. One of the victims in the Kanchanaburi medium service scam said she lost more than 10 million baht to the suspect. She said she decided to file a police complaint against Ms Atitaya after she ran a check and found her background to be dubious.

Ms Atitaya denies all charges, saying she and other people worked together to build a facility to practise dhamma.

Wassayos Ngamkham The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) has vowed to clamp down on people organising superstitious activities duping unsuspecting customers nationwide. CSD chief Suthin Subphuang announced the crackdown after police earlier arrested a 34-year-old transgender woman posing as a medium for spirits at an unnamed location in tambon Prak-Praek of Kanchanaburi's Muang district. She has been accused of operating the medium service as a front to swindle people, with victims claiming she had duped them out of more than 60 million baht. Atitaya Sanyathamkot, who claimed to be a spiritual medium with the alias of "Muang Kaew Princess", conned her customers into making donations to her, Pol Maj Gen Suthin said, adding many people have fallen prey to the scam. The suspect, he said, would invite wealthy people to join a Line application group where she would offer knowledge of dhamma practice. Most of her victims were Thais based in the United States. The victims were later asked to return to practise dhamma in Thailand. After that, the victims were duped into donating large sums of money to the suspect, Pol Maj Gen Suthin said. They were told to donate the money regardless of whether it had been unlawfully obtained, which clearly contravenes Buddhist teachings, he said, adding the victims were also told not to tell their relatives about the activities at the facility. People in Ms Atitaya's network also told the victims a series of stories about Ms Atitaya's supernatural powers, making them believe in her teachings. Ms Atitaya also performed a medium service and spoke in various voices of a woman, man and child, he said. Pol Maj Gen Suthin said Ms Atitaya then told the victims the spirit possessing her wanted money to be donated to the medium, and the more they gave, the more powerful the blessings would be. The suspect allegedly said that if the victims paid 18 million baht, they would become enlightened.

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A woman claiming to be possessed by spirits has been accused of tricking believing victims out of 60 million baht.

Atitaya Sanyathamkot, who called herself 'Muang Kaew Princess', speaks to the media Monday after police arrested her for allegedly swindling more than 60 million baht in a spirit medium scam. (Photos by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

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Vocabulary:

alias : used when a person, especially a criminal or an actor, is known by two names; used before a different name that someone uses instead of their real name - ฉายา, สมญานาม

allegation : an accusation; a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved - ข้อกล่าวหา

allegedly (adv): stated without giving complete proof - ที่ถูกกล่าวหา, นัยว่า

application (app) : a program designed to do a particular job; a piece of software - โปรแกรมใช้งาน, โปรแกรมคอมพิวเตอร์

arrest : (of the police) to take someone to a police station because they are believed to have committed a crime - จับกุม

background : the type of career, training, or education that someone has had - ประวัติ

based : living or working in a particular placed; located in a particular place - อาศัย

blessing : God's help and protection, or a prayer asking for this - การสวดให้พร, การให้พร

charge : an official statement accusing someone of committing a crime - ข้อกล่าวหา

chief : a person with a high rank or the highest rank in a company or an organisation - หัวหน้า, ผู้นำ

claim : to say that something is true although it has not been proved and other people may not believe it - อ้าง

clamp down : to make a determined effort to stop people from doing something bad or illegal - กำจัด

complaint : when someone says that something is wrong or not satisfactory - การร้องเรียน

con (verb): to trick somebody, especially in order to get money from them or persuade them to do something for you - หลอกลวง

con : a dishonest plan or method for making someone give you money - การโกหก, การหลองลวง

contravene : to do something that is not allowed by a rule, law, or agreement - ฝ่าฝืน

crackdown : strong action that someone in authority takes to stop a particular activity - การใช้กำลังเข้าปราบปรามของเจ้าหน้าที่

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) : a national police department responsible for conducting most of the technical investigations of criminal offenses - กองบังคับการปราบปราม

deny : to say that something is not true or does not exist - ปฏิเสธ

donate : to give something such as money or goods to an organisation, especially to a temple, charity, school, political party, etc. - บริจาค

donation : money or goods that you give to an organisation, especially one that helps people - เงินหรือสิ่งของบริจาค

dubious : thought not to be completely true or not able to be trusted - อย่างสงสัย

dupe : to trick someone into believing something that is not true or into doing something that is stupid or illegal - หลอกลวง

enlightened : (Buddhism) having deep undestanding into the meaning and purpose of all things - พุทธะ, ตรัสรู้

facility : a building used for a particular purpose - สิ่งก่อสร้าง

fall prey (verb): to be harmed or affected by something bad - กลายเป็นเหยื่อ

financial : involving money - เกี่ยวกับเงิน, ทางการเงิน

foul play : behaviour that is not fair or honest or that does not keep to accepted rules - การทำผิดกฎหมาย

front : a fake company or identity used to hide who is really running or owns the business, criminals or politicians, for example -

insist : to keep saying very firmly that something is true, even when other people will not believe you - ยืนกราน

invite : to ask somebody formally to go somewhere or do something - เชิญ

involved (verb): taking part or having a role in something - เกี่ยวข้อง, มีบทบาท

location : where someone or something is - ที่ตั้ง,ทำเล

matter : a situation or subject which is being dealt with or considered - เรื่อง, ภารกิจ, งาน

medium (noun): a person who says that they can receive messages from people who are dead - ร่างทรง

nationwide : throughout a whole country - ทั่วทั้งประเทศ

network : a large system of connected parts, organisations, people, etc. - เครือข่าย

obtain : to get something that you want or need, especially by going through a process that is difficult - ได้มา, ได้รับ

offer (verb): to make something available or to provide the opportunity for something - ให้, เสนอ

operate : to carry out an activity like running a business - ดำเนินการ

pose : to pretend to be something - วางท่า

possess : to have or own something - ครอบครอง, ถือครอง

practice : a way of doing something - การปฏิบัติ

practise : to do something regularly, often according to a custom, religion or set of rules, or as a habit - ทำตามหลักทางศาสนา

public (adj): belonging to the government -

regardless of : without being affected or influenced by anything else that happens or exists - โดยไม่คำนึงถึง

relatives (noun): members of your family - ญาติพี่น้อง

scam : a dishonest plan, especially for getting money - กลโกง, แผนร้าย

similar : like somebody/something but not exactly the same - คล้ายกัน

spirit (noun): the soul thought of as separate from the body and believed to live on after death; a ghost - วิญญาณ

suggest : to show that something is possibly true - ชวนคิด

sum : an amount of something, especially money - จำนวนเงิน

supernatural : caused by forces that cannot be explained by science - สิ่งที่เหนือธรรมชาติ

superstitious : believing in the power of magic or luck - เชื่อโชคลาง

suspect : a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย

swindle : to obtain money dishonestly from someone by deceiving or cheating them - โกง

swindle : to obtain money dishonestly from someone by deceiving or cheating them - โกง, หลอกลวง, ฉ้อโกง

target : to direct something at someone or something - ตั้งเป้าหมาย

title deed : an official document that shows who legally owns a building or a piece of land - โฉนดที่ดิน

transgender : an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth - คนข้ามเพศ, คนที่แสดงออก หรือแต่งกาย หรือผ่านการผ่าตัดเพื่อเปลี่ยนเป็นเพศตรงข้าม

unlawfully (adv): in a way that is against the law - อย่างผิดกฎหมาย

unsuspecting : not realising anything is wrong - ไม่สงสัย

victims : people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc. - เหยื่อผู้เคราะห์ร้าย

vow : to make a formal and serious promise to do something or to promise what you say is true - สาบาน, ปฏิญาณ

wealthy : having a large amount of money, land, and other valuable things - ที่มั่งคั่ง ร่ำรวย

withdraw : to take money out of a bank account - ถอนเงินจากธนาคาร