AT LEAST 12 Korean women were fooled into paying up to 200,000 baht each in a scam that promised them jobs as teachers on Phuket.

The women are now being held by Immigration officers who have arrested a Korean they believe ran the scam.

Kwang Soo Lee, 52, sobbed and kept her face hidden at a media conference at the Immigration Headquarters in Phuket City today.

Her 12 victims, aged 22 to 25, were being kept at Immigration but journalists were not permitted to photograph or speak to them.

Villagers at Vichit, on southern Phuket, noticed many Korean women living in a single house and called police yesterday.

The women, said the new Superintendent of Phuket Immigration, Colonel Panuwat Ruamrak, had been lured to pay between 100,000 baht and 200,000 baht to Kwang Soo Lee on the promise of jobs as teachers of swimming, taikwando, and others sports.

Kwang Soo Lee had started a company in Korea with a Korean man, Lee Chung Hang, who is now being sought by police in Thailand and Korea.

''The idea was that anyone who wanted to come to work on Phuket could simply transfer the money into their bank account,'' Colonel Panuwat said.

The 12 women had been on Phuket for up to two months, but there were no jobs for any of them.

A check by Immigration with the Korean embassy revealed that Kwang Soo Lee did not have a visa to come to Thailand. She is likely to face charges of fraud when she returns to Korea.

Immigration plans to send her back as soon as the paperwork has been completed so that Korean police can continue their inquiries.

Once full statements have been taken, the 12 women will be able to continue to hunt for jobs in Thailand until their current visas expire, or if they wish, they may go straight home.

Immigration in Phuket City now has a Transnational Crime Arrest Warrant Centre. Colonel Panuwat is enhancing data bases on expat criminals and improving services for tourists and long-stay expats.