The Appeal Court on Tuesday acquitted a Chinese boxing promoter of human trafficking charges, citing inconsistencies and doubts in the evidence against him.
Huang Tianyong, owner of Ayong boxing gym in Pattaya, was arrested in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district in October 2022. He allegedly lured people into jobs that later turned out to involve working as call scammers for a gang in Myawaddy, Myanmar.
The Criminal Court previously acquitted Mr Huang, saying the evidence raised doubts and giving him the benefit of the doubt. It sentenced Thai defendant Potjanee, who was described as a team leader responsible for training new recruits, to four years in prison.
The prosecution and Ms Potjanee have appealed the ruling.
The Appeal Court said the witness testimony contained inconsistencies and doubts. It also noted that Ms Potjanee testified that she had never seen Mr Huang in the room used by the human trafficking network.
The court therefore found reasonable doubt over whether Mr Huang had participated in the trafficking operation and acquitted him. He was released without being detained pending a further appeal.
However, it found that Ms Potjanee voluntarily joined the trafficking network and received payment for her work.
She was found guilty of conspiring in human trafficking and of being part of a human trafficking network. Because of her useful testimony, the court reduced her sentence by one-third, leaving her with eight years, and ordered her to pay compensation to the seven victims, ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 baht each.
According to the police investigation, the seven victims who were rescued told investigators that the gang created fake profiles on dating apps to lure people into applying for jobs.
After arriving, the victims were forced to make calls to potential targets, with details of the people they contacted then passed to Malaysian and Philippine members of the gang for further contact.
The victims were forced to work 12 hours a day without days off and were required to meet daily targets.
Those who failed to meet their targets were allegedly confined, had their heads shaved or were given electric shocks. Victims who wanted to leave were told they had to pay 50,000 baht to the gang.