A man has been arrested for sexually assaulting underaged boys and uploading video clips of the acts to a pay-to-view online chat group in Khon Kaen.
Warit (surname not given), 31, was caught at a house in Ban Hat district during a raid on Wednesday by the Cyber Crime Investigation Division 3 (CCID3). This was part of sting operations that also covered Maha Sarakham, Yasothon, Roi Et and Nakhon Ratchasima.
These are provinces under the CCID3's jurisdiction. The operations also targeted illegal online lottery rings and human trafficking gangs.
Pol Lt Gen Chatpanthakan Klaiklueng, commander of the CCID3, said Mr Warit's arrest followed a tip-off about a chatroom on the Line application that was charging members a 200-baht entry fee to view pornographic pictures of underaged boys being abused.
Mr Warit allegedly admitted to police he lured young boys, many of whom were under 13, to his house where he sexually assaulted them, recorded the acts and posted them in the chatroom.
The suspect has been charged with sexual assault, human trafficking, procuring boys for sex and producing and distributing child pornographic material.
The CCID3 also widened its raids and netted four others, one each in Nakhon Ratchasima, Yasothon, Roi Et and Maha Sarakham, who allegedly operated an illegal website selling tickets for Laos' government-run lottery.
Among the evidence seized were four mobile phones, some ATM cards, computers and advertising for the illegal online service.
Also in Khon Kaen, two people were nabbed on Wednesday on suspicion of selling online lottery tickets without a licence in Phon and Muang districts. Police ordered the suspects' bank accounts containing almost 300,000 baht frozen.
It was unclear if the suspects were connected to the illegal lottery sales.
The CCID also arrested a man identified as Weerachon, 25, at a luxury condo in downtown Khon Kaen on Wednesday and charged him with illegally possessing a 9mm handgun and nine bullets. The suspect posted photos of himself on social media wielding the gun and taking it to entertainment venues, police said.
