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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  • Expat arrested on drug charges allegedly claims to be a local “Robin Hood”

    Expat arrested on drug charges allegedly claims to be a local “Robin Hood”

    A British national arrested in Chiang Mai for allegedly selling drugs apparently claims to be a local “Robin Hood,” using money he obtained from the rich through illegal acts to give to those in need. Reports in Thai media say the man claims to have spent 1 million baht to buy things for children and villagers who have been affected…

  • Phuket police arrest 2 men and seize more than 160,000 methamphetamine pills

    Phuket police arrest 2 men and seize more than 160,000 methamphetamine pills

    Police in Phuket arrested two men on drug charges and seized more than 160,000 methamphetamine pills. Officers from the Tha Chatchai station searched a two-storey home in Mai Khao and found thousands of methamphetamine tablets, known by the Thai street name “ya ba,” which translates to “crazy drug.” Officers say they found 60 orange pills which were branded with the…

  • Air Asia technician arrested for allegedly stealing electronics

    Air Asia technician arrested for allegedly stealing electronics

    Bangkok Police have arrested a technical who worked for Air Asia for allegedly stealing multiple pieces of electrical equipment. The thefts had been discovered after Air Asia had noticed the equipment was missing. Officials then checked CCTV and saw 27 year old Preecha Inthachai allegedly putting items in a bag. Don Muang police then arrested Preecha and searched his home…

  • Man arrested for allegedly robbing 7-Eleven stores in Bangkok to pay off gambling debt

    Man arrested for allegedly robbing 7-Eleven stores in Bangkok to pay off gambling debt

    A man was arrested for allegedly robbing 7-Eleven stores in Bangkok because he needed to pay off the debts from the money he had lost from gambling. He apparently painted his face to hide his identity and used a pocket knife to threaten the cashiers. The 30 year old man, identified as Sugipri, allegedly robbed two of the 7-Eleven convenience…

  • Hua Hin Maya Club execs get 3 months for superspreader event

    Hua Hin Maya Club execs get 3 months for superspreader event

    Many people living in Thailand long term grow weary of the persistence of action without consequence, especially for those that are well connected or with deep pockets. But a new ruling Hua Hin gives credit where credit is due and sentenced 2 executives of the Maya Club in Hua Hin to 3 months in prison plus fines for the illegal…

  • Facebook fake news post suggesting a coup faces prosecution

    Facebook fake news post suggesting a coup faces prosecution

    While pressure has been mounting against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, a Facebook user posted a false claim that an army had captured the Prime Minister and is staging a coup and is now facing charges. The story was posted midday yesterday and seemed to detail a coup attempt, alleging that 300 military members from Lop Buri were already holding PM Prayut…

  • Police nab 600kg heroin drug bust, year’s biggest in Northeast

    Police nab 600kg heroin drug bust, year’s biggest in Northeast

    The largest haul of heroin in Thailand’s Northeast region this year was intercepted today when authorities impounded 600 kilogrammes of compressed heroin in Nakhon Phanom. The chief of Provincial Police Region 4 confirmed that the stash with a street value of at least 2 billion baht was seized late last night by local police in possession of a suspected drug…

  • Buri Ram pig stable converted into gambling den: 22 arrests follow

    Buri Ram pig stable converted into gambling den: 22 arrests follow

    Recently, the northeastern Thai province Buri Ram had a gambling den busted. It reportedly used to be a pig stable, but forward thinking/criminal-minded residents had renovated it to allegedly serve as a gambling den. Police arrested 22 people. 53 year old “Chakrabongse” and 21 associates were arrested. Reportedly, they were sitting close together and no one was wearing a mask.…

  • Police investigate hackers selling stolen vaccine appointments

    Police investigate hackers selling stolen vaccine appointments

    Amid vaccine scarcity in Thailand’s slow rollout, and a tumultuous registration process with changing systems and tiny sign-up windows, people have taken to desperate means to get vaccinated. People posing as doctors online sold fake vaccine appointments, and authorities accused members of the Hi-So elite of renting motorbike taxi vests to pose as taxi drivers who are given priority for…

  • Marine police seize 30 kilograms of methamphetmine from squid fishing boat

    Marine police seize 30 kilograms of methamphetmine from squid fishing boat

    Marine police seized 30 kilograms of methamphetamine from a squid fishing boat drifting between Koh Tarutao off Thailand’s Satun coast and Malaysia’s Langkawi Island. One person was on the boat. The man, who is a Satun resident, was detained and taken to the mainland for interrogation. Reports do not say what charges the man faces. Officers were dispatched to Koh…

  • Thousands of inmates granted royal pardon on HM the King’s birthday

    Thousands of inmates granted royal pardon on HM the King’s birthday

    On his 69th birthday, HM the King granted a royal pardon to more than 200,000 prison inmates and convicts on house arrest. 35,000 of them from 143 prisons will be released on parole while prison sentences for the others will be reduced. Under the 2021 Royal Pardon Royal Decree imposed today, pardons will be granted within the next 120 days,…

  • Hong Kong officials seize 61 kilograms of heroin shipped from Bangkok

    Hong Kong officials seize 61 kilograms of heroin shipped from Bangkok

    Hong Kong customs officials seized 61 kilograms of heroin found hidden in instant rice vermicelli seasoning packets in a shipment from Bangkok. Following up on orders to work with foreign agencies on drug trafficking, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board is requesting more information from Hong Kong authorities on the case. Customs officials in Hong Kong seized the drugs…

  • Nakhon Si Thammarat arrest drug suspect hiding in jar

    Nakhon Si Thammarat arrest drug suspect hiding in jar

    Today, a suspected drug dealer and a teenager were both arrested in southern Thailand’s Nakhon Si Thammarat. 34 year old Sakrin Phitchalad was arrested in Tha Sala following police complaints that drug dealing was taking place in the area. The dealer was found hiding in a giant clay jar. Police discovered the suspected drug dealer and 2 teenagers in a…

  • Man pilfers tip box from Bangkok cafe run by people with disabilities

    Man pilfers tip box from Bangkok cafe run by people with disabilities

    Yesterday, a man stole a tip box out of a cafe that is run by people with disabilities in Bangkok Thai media says a well dressed man walked into “Yimsoo” and ordered a coffee. When the employee looked away, the man was filmed putting the tip box inside a plastic bag. He then swapped the tip box with an empty…

  • 6,040 amphetamine pills seized at Bangkok airport, package en route to Isreal

    6,040 amphetamine pills seized at Bangkok airport, package en route to Isreal

    In another drug bust at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, 6,040 amphetamine tablets were seized from packages en route to Isreal. Officers searched 2 parcels and found the pills stuffed in the seams of sunhats. The packages had been mailed from Laos, according to Office of Narcotics Control Board secretary-general Wichai Chaimongkhol. “The pills were hidden in the seams of sunhats in packages…

  • Samut Sakhon man allegedly sold police badges on Facebook

    Samut Sakhon man allegedly sold police badges on Facebook

    Recently, police arrested a man for allegedly using Facebook to sell a police badge and a certificate for being a member of the commando police. Reportedly, both the badge and certificate were being sold for 7,000 baht. 35 year old Natchathorn Dechakunaporn was arrested in the central Thai province of Samut Sakhon after he allegedly posted on Facebook through the…

  • Police open murder investigation after worker’s body found underneath home

    Police open murder investigation after worker’s body found underneath home

    Police have opened a murder investigation after the remains of a 42 year old building contractor were found under a home he was doing construction on. The man’s face was severely injured and his skull cracked open, police say. The body had been stripped down to the underwear and wrapped in a curtain. The body was decaying and officers suspect…

  • Police detain all 4 inmates who escaped from Phetchabun prison

    Police detain all 4 inmates who escaped from Phetchabun prison

    Police detained all 4 inmates who broke out of the Phetchabun Provincial Prison early yesterday morning. The inmates, all facing drug charges, escaped from the prison in province north of Bangkok at around 2:30am yesterday. The escapees did not run off too far and were all found within the district later that day. Just hours later at around 6am, officers…

  • Surat Thani police arrest 2 suspected drug dealers

    Surat Thani police arrest 2 suspected drug dealers

    Police have arrested 2 suspects in southern Thailand’s Surat Thani province. Over 100 thousand methamphetamine pills were sized and assets valued at 2 million were impounded for “examinations, says Surat Thani governor Wichawut Jinto, today. The governor previously spoke at a press briefing on Saturday. Wichawut said that a team of police with backup from border patrol and defence volunteers…

  • Cybercrime police arrest suspects who allegedly sold cannabis through Facebook

    Cybercrime police arrest suspects who allegedly sold cannabis through Facebook

    Thailand’s cybercrime police seized 76 kilograms of cannabis and arrested 2 Thai men for allegedly selling cannabis. Officers say the suspects used Facebook to connect with customers and delivered the cannabis by mail through the delivery service Kerry Express. Thai media identified the suspects as 43 year old Natthapong and his alleged accomplice, 25 year old Peerapong. Police say buyers…

  • THG head stock purchases before questionable Pfizer news

    THG head stock purchases before questionable Pfizer news

    Thailand and Pfizer have had a tricky relationship with frequent announcements and then retractions about whether the vaccine will be approved and imported into the country. The latest was Thonburi Healthcare Group Dr Boon Vanasin announcing they had negotiated 20 million Pfizer vaccines to be brought into Thailand, only to be followed a few hours later by Pfizer-BioNTech responding that…

  • 4 million methamphetamine pills abandoned after smugglers confronted by Chiang Mai patrol

    4 million methamphetamine pills abandoned after smugglers confronted by Chiang Mai patrol

    Yesterday, drug smugglers transporting their wares near the Myanmar border in Chiang Mai left 4 million methamphetamine pills behind after an army patrol attempted to stop them. The accidental drug-drop-off happened in the Fang district in northern Thailand. The patrol caught sight of 2 men carrying olive green backpacks walking alongside a natural border yesterday. The soldiers requested the 2…

  • Phuket man to be reunited with jail associates after he is rearrested on drug charges

    Phuket man to be reunited with jail associates after he is rearrested on drug charges

    Yesterday, police arrested a drug dealer that had reportedly already served jail time on drug charges. The Phuket police seized 1.5 kilograms of ice pills (AKA Ya ice) and nearly 1,000 methamphetamine tablets after they raided his residence in Phuket Town. The man had been released recently from jail where he had been serving an unknown amount of time for…

  • Methamphetamine en route to Hong Kong seized at Bangkok shipping company

    Methamphetamine en route to Hong Kong seized at Bangkok shipping company

    Police arrested 3 suspects and seized 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine stuffed in floor mattresses that were being prepared for shipment to Hong Kong. Over the past few months, Thai law enforcement has been cracking down on illegal drug shipments en route to other countries. The Seaport Interdiction Task Force searched a pickup truck shipping company in the Navamin area…

  • Army files defamation complaint against social media users over “fake news”

    Army files defamation complaint against social media users over “fake news”

    Following rumours spread on social media saying Thai soldiers travelling to the US for Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines when they were actually going overseas for parachute training, the Royal Thai Army filed a defamation complaint against 9 people who allegedly spread the so-called “fake news.” A representative from the army filed a complaint with the Nang Loeng police station yesterday on…

  • Police warn to be careful about adding friends online, some aren’t real friends

    Police warn to be careful about adding friends online, some aren’t real friends

    Royal Thai Police are warning social media uses to be cautious when adding “friends” online. The police say sometimes these “friends” are not real friends after all. The police say to be especially wary of people posing as foreigners online as they can be sources of danger. Reportedly, the word of caution comes from deputy RTP spokesperson Deephor Siriwat. Thai…

  • Man allegedly breaks into Bangkok 7/11, argues with police

    Man allegedly breaks into Bangkok 7/11, argues with police

    A man has been arrested after he allegedly broke into a Bangkok 7/11 and rooted around for a bit, early Tuesday morning. According to police, 33 year old Songyot Tharanukan broke a glass door with a brick and then gained illegal entry into the ubiquitous convenience store. Police also say the man was none too happy to have to deal…

  • Prachin Buri clinic raided for allegedly selling fake Moderna vaccines

    Prachin Buri clinic raided for allegedly selling fake Moderna vaccines

    A proprietor of a clinic in the central Thailand province of Prachin Buri has been taken in for questioning after patients allege, he was selling them fake doses of the Moderna vaccine. The owner is set to be questioned today, says Pattanachai Pamornpibul of the Wangg Takian Police. Yesterday, police raided his business, the Kularb Clinic. Clients had reported the…

  • Karon criminal arrested for allegedly stealing 18,000 baht

    Karon criminal arrested for allegedly stealing 18,000 baht

    Yesterday, a man was arrested in Karon, Phuket for allegedly stealing 18,000 baht from an American. The 42 year old unnamed Thai man allegedly stole 18,000 baht out of 39 year old James Anthony Melwesti’s villa. James had contacted Karon police to report he was 18,000 baht lighter. Thai media says that police checked CCTV and saw a man had…

  • Public warned about immigration police impersonators asking for bribes

    Public warned about immigration police impersonators asking for bribes

    The Thai Immigration Bureau is warning foreign residents and the general public to be careful of people who are impersonating as immigration police officers and asking for bribes or other payments. Apparently, the people posing as immigration officers are approaching individual foreigners and are inspecting establishments like factories, which tend to employ migrant workers. If approached by someone claiming to…