‘Veteran fraudster’ arrested for impersonating Thai govt official

A woman with a long record for fraud has been arrested after allegedly impersonating a government official, mingling with lawmakers at parliament and claiming to be a secretary of former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Suwadee Nuannil, 47, was arrested at a rented apartment in Lat Krabang district of Bangkok on Saturday on a warrant issued by the Dusit District Court on Sept 27. She was still wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet at the time, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradej Thumsuthee, commander of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.
The arrest came after a senator had raised the issue of a suspected con artist wandering around the parliament building at every parliamentary session during the meeting on Aug 20, leading to calls for an urgent probe and a ban prohibiting Ms Suwadee from entering the premises. 
Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said Ms Suwadee showed up at the parliament wearing a white uniform with royal decorations. She approached and took photos with several MPs and senators, claiming she currently worked at the Office of the Prime Minister. 
Her lies included previously being on Gen Prayut’s working team and having a close relationship with him, a relative of the wife of Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and a close aide to a few veteran politicians.   
“Investigators found that since 2010, Ms Suwadee had been prosecuted in 14 fraud cases including cases involving bad cheques and building and investment scams,” Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said. 
“In 2021 she began deceiving people into believing that she had a political position and close ties with government figures including the prime minister. She [claimed she] could help them get a job at the Office of the Prime Minister or as a senator’s assistant.”
Ms Suwadee moved and rented a new apartment room every day to evade police. A search of her rented car found the white uniform with fake royal decorations, two black jackets—one carrying an embroidered Thai word that translates as “Parliament” and the other as “Office of Prime Minister” — and a membership card of a political party. 
The Songkhla native denied all charges, saying she only borrowed the white uniform from a friend and wanted to use the photos she had taken with the lawmakers at parliament to apply for an MP position.