According to police, the presence of beggars in the Sukhumvit area damages the image of Thailand. So, with officials from the Immigration Bureau and the Homeless People Protection Centre, they launched a crackdown on beggars today and rounded up 12 people, one of whom was found to have 1.3 million baht in cash and bank deposits.
Those arrested included eight Thais, two Cambodians, a Laotian and one Burmese.
Police say that they searched the lodgings of one of the eight Thais and found about 300,000 baht in cash and a bank book showing a balance of one million baht.
All the alleged Thai beggars were taken to the Lumpini police station to face legal action, while the non-Thais will be charged illegal entry and begging.
