Crime News

Thailand crime news, breaking reports, investigations, and law enforcement updates—stay informed on drug trafficking, cybercrime, corruption, and public safety developments. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for crime news in Thailand.

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    Where to travel in Thailand in April [2025]

    Travelling in Thailand is peak during April if you are looking for a real taste of summer. With high temperatures, amazing beaches, and exciting events, April is an amazing time to visit the country as a whole. Due to the...

  • US cop gets extra 20 years for George Floyd’s killing

    US cop gets extra 20 years for George Floyd’s killing

    The US cop who murdered George Floyd yesterday received another 20 years in prison on top of his original sentence for violating the victim’s civil rights. Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is already serving over 22 years after being convicted of the 46 year old’s death in May 2020 after pleading guilty to the separate federal civil rights…

  • Thailand: Don’t answer calls starting with +697, it’s a scam

    Thailand: Don’t answer calls starting with +697, it’s a scam

    If a number starting with +697 rings you, don’t answer. Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) says it is most likely a scam call centre trying to swindle you out of money. In a smart move to combat call centre scams, Thailand’s National Broadcasting Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has purposefully added the prefix +697 to IP calls to help people…

  • Thai health minister defends decision to decriminalise cannabis

    Thai health minister defends decision to decriminalise cannabis

    The Thai Deputy PM and Minister of Public Health today defended his decision to legalise Cannabis. Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, was grilled by journalists about his decision to decriminalise the drug on June 6, and insisted it was the right decision. “Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 issue, the Cannabis Act could not be finished…

  • Thai student slashed in high-speed car chase after school row

    Thai student slashed in high-speed car chase after school row

    A schoolgirl was slashed by a knife after the mother of a schoolboy pursued a group of teenage students down a highway following a row at her son’s sports day. The Facebook page, Let Me Know If You Want to Be Famous Return Part 3, อยากดังเดี๋ยวจัดให้ รีเทิร์น พาร์ท 3, posted a video of the high-speed car chase, which was recorded…

  • British man beaten up and robbed in Pattaya, Thailand

    British man beaten up and robbed in Pattaya, Thailand

    A British tourist who woke up in his underwear on the floor on a Pattaya path says he got beaten up and robbed by 4 Thai men after a night of heavy drinking. Police found 29 year old Farnie (surname reserved) of British nationality covered in bruises on the floor of North Pattaya Road yesterday at noon. Farnie was missing…

  • Grandmother stabbed more than 20 times in brutal murder in central Thailand

    Grandmother stabbed more than 20 times in brutal murder in central Thailand

    Police have launched a murder investigation after a man stabbed a 75 year old woman to death at her home in Phetchaburi province, central Thailand, on Tuesday. The woman’s daughter, 39 year old Yok, said she had been unwell and had been taking sleeping pills. Yok woke up at noon to find her mother – 75 year old Suthasinee Phansawat…

  • 2 Chinese charged with attempted murder after making a f-arse of extortion attempt

    2 Chinese charged with attempted murder after making a f-arse of extortion attempt

    A botched 3 million baht extortion attempt by 2 Chinese nationals turned into a f-arse when one of them shot a fellow countryman in the buttock. A married Chinese couple Yu Wang and Li Min met with mainland compatriot Wang Xiaoye at a house in Muang district of Chiang Mai under the pretence of selling some antique porcelain at around…

  • Shooter in Pattaya turns himself in after shooting at man in car

    Shooter in Pattaya turns himself in after shooting at man in car

    After shooting up a car where a man was waiting for his girlfriend in Pattaya, the shooter has now turned himself in at the Bang Lamung Police Station. The 38 year old man told police that the hail of bullets that he showered the car with was in response to a personal dispute and initially confessed to the crime. The…

  • Thai man escapes with life after love triangle shootout

    Thai man escapes with life after love triangle shootout

    A Thai man escaped with his life after an argument with his girlfriend turned into a scene from a gangster movie. Teerapan Mulma got into a row with his girlfriend at a party on Sunday, July 3 at Pattaya Waterworks Authority in Pattaya, which spiraled into a shootout. The 34 year old was enjoying drinks with his girlfriend and a…

  • Smoking and selling cannabis in public is illegal, warns Bangkok deputy governor

    Smoking and selling cannabis in public is illegal, warns Bangkok deputy governor

    Bangkok’s deputy governor would like to remind the public that smoking and selling cannabis in public places is illegal. The reminder follows a meeting in which vendors called for the infamous Khao San Road to become a “Ganja Hub.” The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said: no. Bangkok Deputy Governor Chakkhaphan Phewngam chaired a meeting at Din Daeng City Hall today to…

  • Insurance companies in uproar over Covid scam by clients

    Insurance companies in uproar over Covid scam by clients

    In a bizarre twist of fate, insurance companies are crying wolf after being scammed out of 500 million baht from a Covid-19 insurance scheme. Evidence has emerged that thousands of people who bought the “Found, Paid, Done” Covid-19 insurance scheme submitted fake documents for compensation totalling an estimated 500 million baht. The president of the Thai General Insurance Association, Anon…

  • Thai police arrest ‘Mr. Underpants:’ The serial thief in the white briefs

    Thai police arrest ‘Mr. Underpants:’ The serial thief in the white briefs

    Today, the Royal Thai Police finally arrested a serial mobile phone thief known as “Mr. Underpants.” Mr. Underpants broke into 9 BANANA mobile phone shops in locations all over Thailand, stealing thousands of mobile phones in total. Every time, he wore only his pants. Mr. Underpants broke into BANANA branches in Yala, Hat Yai, Patthalung, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Si Thammarat,…

  • Ukrainian woman caught smuggling 116 live tortoises from Tanzania into Thailand

    Ukrainian woman caught smuggling 116 live tortoises from Tanzania into Thailand

    Police arrested a Ukrainian woman at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday after airport security found 116 live tortoises in her luggage. The woman smuggled the protected wildlife on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Bangkok, transiting in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia along the way. Yesterday at 2:40pm, Chief of the Wildlife Checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport Sathon…

  • Suspect caught in mass shooting at American Independence Day celebration

    Suspect caught in mass shooting at American Independence Day celebration

    Yesterday was the 4th of July, American Independence Day, but in Chicago’s Highland Park suburb, celebrations were marred by an all-too-familiar American phenomenon: a mass shooting. Police have now taken a suspect into custody for an attack on a 4th of July parade where a man opened fire with a high-powered rifle, killing 6 people and injuring at least 36…

  • 2 Thai men face 20 years in jail for illegal felling of protected trees

    2 Thai men face 20 years in jail for illegal felling of protected trees

    Two men face up to 20 years in prison and a 2 billion baht fine after being arrested for the illegal felling of one of Thailand’s most protected trees in the Sangkha district. Acting on a tipoff, a police team swooped on a clearing in Huay Samran forest, south of Moo 10 village in tambon Thepraksa, to find the 2…

  • Bangkok taxi driver arrested a 7th time for random knife attacks

    Bangkok taxi driver arrested a 7th time for random knife attacks

    A motorbike taxi driver in Bangkok was arrested for criminal damage, again, with the police claiming it was due to their favourite new scapegoat, marijuana. He was taken into custody yesterday along with his Honda Wave motorbike, a 60 centimetre piece of wood, and a 16 centimetre long Sparta knife, both of which the taxi driver had been wielding in…

  • Drug bonfire set alight today fuelled with 40 tonnes of illicit narcotics

    Drug bonfire set alight today fuelled with 40 tonnes of illicit narcotics

    Illicit drugs, valued at about 25 billion baht, are set to go up in smoke over the next 2 days. The confiscated drugs, which have been stored in a Food and Drug Administration location, are going to be creating some interesting smoke fumes for people living downwind of the FDA’s Bang Pu industrial facility in Samut Prakan. Some 40 tonnes…

  • Thai student caught smoking cannabis, threatened to punch teacher

    Thai student caught smoking cannabis, threatened to punch teacher

    A Thai high school student locked himself in a classroom during lunch break to smoke cannabis with other classmates, which was hidden in a water bottle. The teacher tried to stop the students from smoking the weed, but one of the students threatened to “punch the teacher.” A Ramathibodi Hospital paediatrician shared the story on her Facebook page. The event…

  • “Casinos should be legalised and will create revenue for Thailand” – Chuwit Kamolvisit

    “Casinos should be legalised and will create revenue for Thailand” – Chuwit Kamolvisit

    Chuwit Kamolvisit, a former politician and controversial owner of a massage parlour, has backed the legalisation of casinos in Thailand, believing it will boost revenue and draw tourists from abroad. “It shouldn’t be ignored any longer, and people should face the truth that many locals take part in gambling.” Chuwit Kamolvisit is a controversial Thai politician who was once the…

  • Thai health delegate says we must do more to protect kids from sex crimes

    Thai health delegate says we must do more to protect kids from sex crimes

    A spokesman for the Thai Department of Health says schools must do more to protect children from sexual crimes after the alleged rape of an 11 year old girl by her 12 year old classmate caused outrage in the Wichian Buri district of Phetchabun province on Tuesday, June 21. Police launched an investigation into why the female director of the…

  • Pattaya man taken to hospital after smoking cannabis

    Pattaya man taken to hospital after smoking cannabis

    A man has been taken to a hospital after smoking Cannabis on Pattaya Beach. Rescue workers believe that the man, 29 year old Seksan, may have suffered a panic attack after experiencing unfamiliar symptoms from smoking the Cannabis. The incident happened between last night and this morning. Seksan said he had only smoked it once in the past, many years…

  • Appeals Court sentences former Deputy Minister Banyin to death

    Appeals Court sentences former Deputy Minister Banyin to death

    Following a twisted tale of alleged greed and corruption, former Deputy Minister of Commerce Banyin Tangpakorn has been sentenced to death by the Appeals Court. The ruling increased the earlier life imprisonment sentence for the murder of a judge’s brother in an apparent attempt to sway another court ruling in the deputy minister’s favour. The story sounds like it was…

  • UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims

    UPDATE: Resort in eastern Thailand denies media claims

    UPDATE A resort in eastern Thailand has released a statement yesterday denying media claims that police accused its foreign directors of wrongdoing. The statement refuted other claims as well, and said police have not issued arrest warrants on any of the resort’s directors. The accusations are in light of a fire that gutted one of the resort’s villas in March.…

  • Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand

    Police tracking down British nationals after March fire in eastern Thailand

    After a fire gutted a resort villa in Thailand’s eastern province of Trat in March, 3 executives are being charged. The charges include causing a fire by negligence, causing damages to people’s property, endangering other persons, and allowing others to use the building for hotel business without obtaining a license from the local officials. The massive fire broke out at…

  • Thailand’s Prayut orders drug crackdown

    Thailand’s Prayut orders drug crackdown

    Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered a crackdown on illegal drugs in the country. At an anti-drug award ceremony yesterday, Prayut urged local officials to continue cracking down on drug rings, as well as their financial supporters. However, the PM also stressed that rehabilitating addicts need occupational training to help them rebuild their lives. Prayut also brought up the need…

  • Pattaya Police add more patrols to stop theft against Indian tourists

    Pattaya Police add more patrols to stop theft against Indian tourists

    Pattaya Police are working toward promises to end gold theft against tourists, particularly Indian tourists. Between last night and this morning, Pattaya Police and tourist police walked up and down Beach Road. Tourist Police Lieutenant Thanaphat Klebe-Udom said officers were interviewing “suspiciously” loitering individuals at random. But Thanaphat said police are especially interviewing loiterers who are transgender. He said officers…

  • UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer

    UPDATE: Central Thailand gold robber was a chief correctional officer

    UPDATE The man who robbed a gold shop in central Thailand yesterday has been arrested, and found to be a chief correctional officer. The man held up a gold shop in the province of Pathum Thani, stealing 6 necklaces. Altogether, the necklaces were worth about 450,000 baht. The thief snatched the pricey necklaces from a shop in a Tesco Lotus…

  • Gold snatcher on the loose in central Thailand

    Gold snatcher on the loose in central Thailand

    Police are on the hunt for a gold armed robber in central Thailand. The man held up a gold shop in the province of Pathum Thani this morning, stealing 6 necklaces. Altogether, the necklaces were worth about 450,000 baht. The thief snatched the pricey necklaces from a shop in a Tesco Lotus mall in the Thayaburi district. A shop employee,…

  • Thai Police ordered to pay 3.4 million baht for torturing teenager

    Thai Police ordered to pay 3.4 million baht for torturing teenager

    South Bangkok Civil Court yesterday ordered The Royal Thai Police to pay about 3.4 million baht in compensation for the false imprisonment and brutal torture of a teenager in 2009. Rittirong Chuenchit was arrested by Prachin Buri Police’s criminal investigation team on January 28, 2009, for suspected theft. During the investigation, police tried to extract a confession from the victim,…

  • Pattaya police make more promises to stop gold theft against Indian tourists

    Pattaya police make more promises to stop gold theft against Indian tourists

    Police are making more promises to end Pattaya’s problem with gold theft against Indian tourists. This news follows a string of incidents where thieves have snatched gold necklaces from Indian travellers in recent months. Suspects often flirt with the tourists and touch them, asking them to come to their hotel with them. Victims often realise they have been robbed after…