Chinese tourists were arrested over an illegal online loan business based in Thailand.

The gang of 11 men and one woman were said to have lent money to Chinese citizens at exorbitant interest rates. They would allegedly target victims at random through the WeChat messaging application.

The suspected loan sharks were found to be operating from a luxury pool villa in 'Sin City' Pattaya, where police detained them on February 7.

Officers also seized 10 computers, 61 mobile phones, passports, ATM cards, and cash from the property.

Police Colonel Chatree Suksiri, deputy commander of the provincial police, said: 'The investigation found that most of the suspects had traveled on tourist and student visas in August 2024. Two of the suspects had overstayed their visas.

'One of the suspects claimed they were only employees and had never met their boss. They only know that their boss had been renting the house from an agency at 150,000 baht per month since August 2024.

'Regarding the suspects' operations, they would lend money online through the WeChat application to customers in China, with most of the customers randomly finding information online. They have hundreds of customers per month. They would lend each client 2,000 to 3,000 yuan (220 to 330 GBP), with an interest rate of 30 per cent. The employees will receive a salary of 15,000 - 20,000 baht per month, excluding commissions.'

He added the gang had previously been operating in Dubai, but moved to Thailand to save on living costs. They will be charged with working in Thailand without permission.

Police said they were expanding the investigation to search for other potential suspects.

Chinese nationals are the largest group of foreign tourists to Thailand as both nations inked a mutual visa exemption agreement in March 2024.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra last week visited China to discuss economic and trade ties. The trip came amid growing security concerns among Chinese tourists amid a spate of call centre scams in the Southeast Asian country.

The Thai premier had said: 'You know, the prime minister of Thailand has Chinese blood in her. I guarantee that it's going to be very safe for Chinese people.'

(1 CNY = 0.11 GBP)