On Friday 18th Chiang Mai police say that 20 people came to report that they had been conned into taking a course to become security guards at the Chiang Mai International Airport.
The group of 20 say that they represent between 100 and 200 people who were asked to pay for a course as to how to become airport security guards. After many months, they came together to realise that they were not hired.
The group say that friends and associates had invited them to join this course which would guarantee them a security job of over 30,000 baht per month salary.
The airport would also issue a certificate of completion, they were told. All they had to do was pay between 2,000 and 10,000 baht each for the course. The victims say that they were lead to believe that by joining this course they would be fast-tracked to the front of the line.
A 44 year old victim said that he was the third class to join this course and was told that he would also receive a 6,000 baht commission for every other person he invited in to join the course. He was told that all compensation would come out of future salaries, but after four months of not hearing anything he realised that it was a scam.
A 29 year old said that for him, he was also asked to pay 1,000 baht for a uniform and a further 1,500 for a second uniform, on top of the course fee, costing him 6,000 baht.
Police called in the airport authorities who denied all knowledge of this scam, saying that their courses are all free and there was no preferential access to jobs based on money.
All victims said that they completed at least one, some even two, such courses, all of which they paid for, in hopes of getting work.
Police are investigating.