Big Joke seizes Tuhao’s private jet in Hua Hin

A private jet is the latest addition to the Thai police’s shiny collection of assets seized from Tuhao the notorious Chinese gangster.

Thai police – led by Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn – seized Tuhao’s private jet at Bo Fai Airport in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, western Thailand, yesterday.

Police found that the “HS-HAO” plane was owned by Modern Latex Co, one of Tuhao’s eight money-laundering-disguised-as-businesses operations in Phuket, which were all seized by police yesterday.

Once the jet was officially linked to Tuhao, police were able to seize it, said Big Joke.

Big Joke said sniffer dogs were checking the plane for drugs and officers were collecting forensic evidence from the jet.

Police added that they had seized even more of Tuhao’s assets including luxury properties in Samut Prakan province in central Thailand.

After raiding 34 locations nationwide, police have now seized around 5 billion baht worth of Tuhao’s assets including three houses, several companies, more than 100 cars, and even live snakes.

Tuhao sits at the top of a spiderweb of Chinese criminals in Thailand who police are cracking down on. Yesterday, police arrested Chen Zhaohui, aka “Tony,” under suspicion of running a business operated illegally by foreign nationals.

Police say there are four big Chinese gangsters in Thailand, three of whom have been arrested already. The fourth, “Ming,” is thought to have already fled the country.

Since 2020, Tuhao’s gang bought 50 homes in a luxury village in Bangkok’s Soi Laselle area – with cash. The remaining 16 Thai families were driven out of the village by the gang’s constant, loud partying.

Tuhao surrendered to police last week after he was charged with, “conspiring to commit drug offences and possessing and selling psychotropic substances.” He denied all charges. He was detained and was not granted bail.

Wattanaree Kornchayanan, Tuhao’s wife, is a police officer for the foreign affairs division. Despite having shares in several of Tuhao’s illegal companies, she swears she knows nothing of her husband’s giant and well-established criminal network.