Bangkok: The 'Jagat' application fever has teenagers in a frenzy, hunting for coins to exchange for money that are scattered in various places, causing trouble for locals and business owners. Police warn that sharing location coordinates can be a channel for criminals to monitor and take advantage of to steal property, and may risk being charged with trespassing.
According to Thai News Agency, a few days ago, there was a viral TikTok post about a video clip of a hunt for 'Jagat' coins. If anyone finds the coins, they can actually exchange them for money. This caused a lot of people to come and play this application, continuously hunting for coins, which started to cause trouble for the villagers. The areas open for hunting coins are Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, and Chonburi (Pattaya).
Recently, Pattaya City, Chonburi Province, found that players traveled to hunt for coins at various points in the city. Some coins were hidden in tourist attractions that were open during specified times. As a result, some coin hunters invaded those places at unauthorized times, causing trouble for business operators, including on Pattaya Beach, where the app indicated that there were hidden coins. This caused some tourists to be confused and not understand the activity, causing chaos for tourism. Locals and business operators in the area asked relevant agencies to come in and control it to prevent the trouble from spreading.
The Jagat application is a platform from Indonesia that allows players to hunt for treasure in a virtual world, collect coins and prizes that can be converted to real-world value. The gameplay involves paying in-app to exchange for clues about where the coins are. There are 3 colors of coins: copper coins worth 500-2,000 baht, silver coins worth 20,000 baht, and gold coins worth 200,000 baht. If you find a coin, you can enter the code on the back of the coin in the app, and the money will be transferred to your account within 2-3 days. The mission lasts for 32 days. However, some features in the app require payment, so those who are not careful may accidentally subscribe to weekly, monthly, and yearly subscriptions without realizing it, especially children and young people. If you want more clues and hints to find the coins, you also have to pay.
In addition, sharing the user's location may be a channel for criminals to monitor and take the opportunity to steal property, especially in areas or coin coordinates that are in isolated places.