Line group had more than 400 members who paid B199 each
A man has been arrested in Chiang Mai for running a Line chat group that charged people membership fees to watch pornographic video clips involving minors
Police with a court-issued warrant nabbed Thawatchai Saengboon, 36, at a house in tambon Chompoo of Saraphi district of the northern province on Saturday morning, said Pol Lt Gen Worawat Watnakornbancha, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB).
Police also seized a mobile phone and bank passbooks.
He has been charged with human trafficking, exploiting and distributing pornographic materials for personal gain or trade, and importing such materials into a computer system.
Police searched the house after being tipped off by an international development organisation about the chat group.
The organisation alerted the CCIB after coming across Twitter messages sent via an account advertising pornographic pictures and videos, and inviting people to join the group for an entry fee of 199 baht.
Prospective customers were asked to contact the group administrator, who was found to be Mr Thawatchai.
The chat group, which targeted heterosexual customers, featured pictures and videos of sexual acts involving at least two underaged girls, according to the investigation team. It had 429 followers who were granted a password to access the chatroom after paying the entry fee.
Mr Thawatchai admitted he started out as a member of a pornographic chatroom before opening his own Line group called Chao Viking (Viking Folks), which he owns and runs.
Content was downloaded from various porn websites. He sometimes paid underaged girls for sex and recorded the acts, before sharing it to the chat group.
He also engaged in group sex, which he recorded on video and distributed, police said.