Koh Samui: Arrested as Spider-Man, Now at the Center of a Strange Fundraiser

Barely had Sacha Bastok been arrested in Koh Samui disguised as Spider-Man when a fundraiser opened in his name. Family suspicions and a meme coin revive the questions.

On 20 September 2026, a Frenchman in his thirties, Sacha Bastok (SamuiSpyder), was arrested in Lipa Noi, on the island of Koh Samui. Disguised as Spider-Man, he entered the Samui Exotic Park and removed a sign barring access to Israeli visitors, before placing Pokémon cards and a banner for peace. The police are treating it as trespass, punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to 20,000 baht.

Behind bars, making public statements should be far more difficult. Yet videos and posts in Sacha’s name are proliferating on social media, often written in the first person. It is rare for a detainee in Thailand to have unrestricted access to social media from his cell. Shortly afterwards, a crowdfunding campaign opened on GoFundMe: 40,000 euros are officially being sought for legal fees, bail and fines. More than 16,000 euros have already been raised. Although the description is written in the first person, the organiser listed appears to be someone else, raising questions. His civil name appears in full: Hakim Korso Tlemsani, “Mr Korso”, a crypto entrepreneur who claims to have been a close friend of Sacha Bastok for more than ten years and is supposed to be managing the fundraiser money. Although nothing establishes that he is the author, a meme coin was launched the same day on the Solana network, which is intriguing.

The token is called $SAVSACH, “save sacha! save them all!”. It was created on 20 September 2026 on Pump.fun, the rapid-launch platform on the Solana blockchain. The page repeats the story of peace and animals, and displays the account samuispyder. Within hours the market capitalisation reached around $21,600 before falling back to around $3,800, with around thirty holders and still-low trading volume. The on-chain creator, active since December 2024, has already launched other whimsical tokens, all now defunct — DONTBUYIT, SHITCOIN, SHITLAB, DRONES. Although no public on-chain link yet attributes these mints to Hakim Korso Tlemsani, the proximity of his business sector to Solana remains troubling:

More worryingly, the Thai police and local press identify the “French Spiderman” as the son of Stéphane Thierry Bastok, 74, a Frenchman already targeted in Lipa Noi over a hotel allegedly run through nominees. In a separate case, eight compatriots are said to have each invested around 3.3 million baht in a cannabis farm that, according to investigators, never existed. More than 26.4 million baht (nearly 900,000 euros) are said to be at stake. A local theory at the time suggested that these defrauded investors had tipped off the authorities about the hotel. Significant money transfers to the father and son have also been mentioned by Thai investigators.

The trespass charge carries a maximum of one year in prison and/or 20,000 baht (around 530 euros). The gap with a 40,000-euro target, without any named Thai law firm, remains striking. The father’s criminal record in Koh Samui, followed by the rapid succession of the fundraiser and meme coin, fuels the suspicion of an opaque collection whose real purpose has not yet been established.

When contacted, GoFundMe stated that no payment is released without internal review and KYC of the provider, and that campaigns are subject to ongoing Trust & Safety monitoring.

Kevin Dimino, co-owner of the park, has published a video in which he claims that immigration authorities demanded the removal of critical posts about Mr Bastok. Several people on the ground confirm to ZoneSamui.com that there has been pressure, even censorship, and say they fear reprisals.

To date, no court has declared the fundraiser fraudulent. The arrest is real. The family suspicions are too. But between the superhero costume, the manager, the ticker $SAVSACH and the defrauded investors, one question remains: who is the French Spiderman’s fundraiser really for?