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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    5 ways retirees in Thailand lose money (and how to stop it)

    Retiring in Thailand can be affordable and enjoyable, but many retirees lose money due to common mistakes. High living costs, scams, and unexpected expenses can quickly drain savings. There are five ways that retirees in Thailand can lose money and...

  • Manhunt launched for ex-cop who allegedly killed suspect in custody

    Manhunt launched for ex-cop who allegedly killed suspect in custody

    Thai police are out to catch one of their own, with a manhunt launched for former police chief Thitisan Utthanaphon, who is on the run. The ex-cop, previously chief of police in the northern province of Nakhon Sawan, is accused of causing the death by suffocation of a drug suspect in custody. The dead man has been named as 24-year-old…

  • Wanted police superintendent has mansion, 13 luxury cars

    Wanted police superintendent has mansion, 13 luxury cars

    The appalling story of the Mueng Nakhon Sawan Police suffocating a man to death while trying to extort him for 2 million baht continues with more and more shocking turns. Now details are emerging of the accused police station superintendent Pol Col Thitisan Utthanaphon’s luxury house on a large plot of land in Bangkok with 13 high-end cars. First, the…

  • Husband and wife arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle crystal methamphetamine to Hong Kong

    Husband and wife arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle crystal methamphetamine to Hong Kong

    A man and his wife have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 9 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, which they hid in shoulder bags, to Hong Kong. The drugs were seized nearly a year prior in Bangkok. Henry Kelechi Alaeto, a Nigerian national, and his Thai wife, 24 year old Wanwisa Pilatan, were detained by police in their Bangkok room,…

  • Man allegedly steals 6 bottles of alcohol gel from restaurant, cleans table before leaving

    Man allegedly steals 6 bottles of alcohol gel from restaurant, cleans table before leaving

    A man allegedly stole 6 bottles of alcohol gel from a famous restaurant in Udon Thani, a province in northeast Thailand. But before leaving, the man used the gel to clean a table and chair. The 38 year old restaurant owner, identified as Alias, says she woke up in the morning and was shocked to find that tables at her…

  • Video of alleged police killing during extortion attempt shared on social media

    Video of alleged police killing during extortion attempt shared on social media

    A video of the alleged police killing during an extortion attempt was shared on social media today by a well-known Thai lawyer. The footage shows officers putting a plastic bag over a man’s head and beating him. Reports say the man died from suffocation, but the district chief allegedly ordered his subordinates to write the death off as drug overdose.…

  • 80 year old Australian man kicked to the ground in Chiang Mai road altercation

    80 year old Australian man kicked to the ground in Chiang Mai road altercation

    An 80 year old Australian man was assaulted after he smacked a car that almost ran him over. The driver of the car got out of his vehicle and kicked the octogenarian in the back following the older man’s car smacking. Dashcam footage captured the incident that happened in Chiang Mai, the northern Thai province which is hoping to launch…

  • Probe into alleged mishandling of Red Bull heir fatal hit-and-run case is underway

    Probe into alleged mishandling of Red Bull heir fatal hit-and-run case is underway

    The investigation into the alleged mishandling of the 2012 fatal hit-and-run case where the Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidh­ya allegedly sped through Thong Lor, running over a police officer with his Ferrari, is underway and is expected to be closed in 16 months. Boss managed to evade justice and has since fled the country. Now, 15 senior police officers,…

  • Police chief transferred for probe into death during alleged extortion attempt

    Police chief transferred for probe into death during alleged extortion attempt

    A police chief in Nakhon Sawan is being transferred following allegations that he accidentally killed a man while demanding a 2 million baht bribe. A plastic bag was reportedly tied over the man’s head and he suffocated to death, but the superintendent of the station allegedly wrote the death off as drug overdose, according to Royal Thai Police inspector-general Wissanu Prasartthong-osoth.…

  • Police investigate claims that officer accidentally killed a man in extortion attempt

    Police investigate claims that officer accidentally killed a man in extortion attempt

    The Royal Thai Police are looking into a report that claims a police officer from the northern Thai province Nakhon Sawan accidentally killed a suspect while the officer was attempting to extort the suspect for 2 million baht. The investigation came about after celebrity lawyer Decha Kittiwittayanan publicised the claim on Facebook. Decha’s post stated the case starts with the…

  • Man holds 2 people hostage on Bangkok Bus, driver allegedly dips out early to do paperwork

    Man holds 2 people hostage on Bangkok Bus, driver allegedly dips out early to do paperwork

    A 24 year old man commandeered a Bangkok bus with a gun holding the conductor and a passenger hostage last night. The gunman surrendered early this morning after a standoff that took hours to resolve with Lat Phrao police. The negotiations reportedly sped up when the man’s mother talked him into surrendering. Police were notified at 9:30 last night that…

  • 650 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine found off Trang’s coast

    650 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine found off Trang’s coast

    650 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine has been found off the coast of Kantang which is in the southern Thai province of Trang. Reportedly, the methamphetamine was loaded into fertiliser sacks which were then tied to barrels that floated along the sea. An unnamed marine generator vessel alerted officials to the suspicious buoy like objects that were floating between Koh Laoliang…

  • 24 arrested at illegal party in Koh Samui luxury villa

    24 arrested at illegal party in Koh Samui luxury villa

    Perhaps people are getting fed up with Covid-19 restrictions keeping them isolated and unable to socialize and party. Or maybe the police are cracking down more on the illegal parties that often become Covid-19 clusters or superspreader events. Either way, stories of private parties in violation of Covid-19 Emergency Decree restrictions being busted seem to be cropping up more and…

  • Police arrest 21 people at Pattaya party violating Covid-19 decree

    Police arrest 21 people at Pattaya party violating Covid-19 decree

    Yet another party breaking all Covid-19 restrictions was just broken up in Central Pattaya tonight, with 21 people arrested. The event was in front of the Tree Town Market area on Soi Buakhao and police raided the party just before 9 pm. Pattaya and the rest of the Chon Buri province is now a maximum control dark red zone, and…

  • Teenagers arrested for handing out small bombs at Bangkok protest

    Teenagers arrested for handing out small bombs at Bangkok protest

    Police arrested three teenagers for allegedly distributing ping pong bombs at Sunday’s protest in Bangkok’s Din Dang area. Officers say the teenagers had added more gunpowder to the explosives to make them more powerful. Police seized 75 ping pong bombs from a suspect’s home. The teenagers allegedly told police that they had purchased the 100 ping bombs from a factory…

  • Immigration police arrest man for allegedly laundering money for drug trafficking syndicate

    Immigration police arrest man for allegedly laundering money for drug trafficking syndicate

    A 31 year old man from India was arrested by Thai immigration police for allegedly laundering money for an international drug trafficking syndicate in Southern Thailand. Officers say the man has been buying gold with money obtained through the illegal drug trade and opened an electrical appliance store in Bangkok’s Pahurat area as a cover for the money laundering operations.…

  • Police arrest man for allegedly robbing Bangkok gold shop, threatening owner with fake gun

    Police arrest man for allegedly robbing Bangkok gold shop, threatening owner with fake gun

    Thai police arrested a man yesterday for allegedly robbing a gold shop and running off with a gold necklace valued at more than 50,000 baht in Bangkok’s Udomsuk area. He allegedly used a fake gun to threaten the shop owner and fled the scene on a motorbike with no license plate. After reviewing surveillance camera, footage police were able to…

  • Police raid birthday party at Bangkok resort, arrest 28 people

    Police raid birthday party at Bangkok resort, arrest 28 people

    Police raided a birthday party at a resort in Bangkok and arrested 28 people for violating emergency orders which prohibit gatherings of more than five people. Sutthisan police officers raided the resort in the Ratchadapisek area at around 3:30am today and arrested them for violating the disease control measures. Bangkok is classified as a “dark red” zone under maximum control with…

  • Man arrested for allegedly stealing plants valued at 18,500 baht

    Man arrested for allegedly stealing plants valued at 18,500 baht

    Police arrested a man who allegedly stole four expensive potted plants from outside a home in the eastern province Sa Kaeo. Officers say the plants are valued at 18,500 baht. The stolen plants include the Dieffenbachia valued at 7,000 baht, Variegated Arrowhead Vine valued at 3,500 baht, Syngonium Pink Spot valued at 3,000 baht, and the Monstera Thai Constellation valued…

  • Family of Phuket murder suspect does not plan to request bail

    Family of Phuket murder suspect does not plan to request bail

    The family of Teerawat Thothip, the man who allegedly killed 57 year old Swiss national Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf, does not plan to request bail for him. Region 8 Police Commander Kitrat Panpetch confirmed the family does not plan to file for bail. Nicole’s half-naked body was found earlier this month in a creek near Ao Yon Waterfall. Her shorts and shoes…

  • Woman who stole over 250 million baht from sick mother sentenced to 12 years

    Woman who stole over 250 million baht from sick mother sentenced to 12 years

    A Bangkok woman who stole 253 million baht from her elderly sick mother has been jailed for 12 years. The Bangkok Post reports that 55 year old Mawadi Siwirat stole the money from her 84 year old mother, named as Huay Siwirat, while she was receiving hospital treatment for a heart condition. Mawadi pled guilty and was found guilty on…

  • Officers at Phuket checkpoint to screen Thais for outstanding warrants

    Officers at Phuket checkpoint to screen Thais for outstanding warrants

    Officers at Phuket’s main checkpoint in Tha Chatchai will be screening Thais entering the island province to see if they have outstanding arrest warrants. The Region 8 Police Chief donated 51 smart card readers to scan ID cards as well as 20 smartphones. PM Prayut Chan-o-cha had called on government agencies to tighten safety to support tourists in Phuket following the…

  • Protester in a coma, police say riot officers used rubber bullets

    Protester in a coma, police say riot officers used rubber bullets

    Police deny claims that live ammunition was shot at protesters last night outside Bangkok’s Din Daeng police station. A young protester was reportedly shot in the neck and critically injured outside the station, but officers held a press conference outside the Metropolitan Police Bureau today and said only rubber bullets were used to control the crowd. The protester, who has yet…

  • Monk in Phitsanulok allegedly shoots and kills man at meditation centre

    Monk in Phitsanulok allegedly shoots and kills man at meditation centre

    A monk allegedly shot and killed a man, who he had a long-standing feud with, at a Buddhist meditation centre in northern Thailand’s Phitsanulok. The alleged shooter has been stripped of his monkhood and now faces murder charges. Sai Yoi police officer Suparerk Chanmee says the shooting at the Ratchathani Buddhist Meditation Centre was reported to the police around 10am this…

  • Bangkok man detained by police after allegedly assaulting woman

    Bangkok man detained by police after allegedly assaulting woman

    A man in Bangkok has been detained by police after allegedly assaulting a female Grab driver and then driving off. A video of the incident shows the man carrying a gun. The 36 year old man identified as “Sethawut” now faces charges of assault, criminal damage, and 2 weapons offences. Sethawut reportedly struck Grab driver Surang Sinkaew. It’s unclear what…

  • Couple arrested shipping 490 grams of meth to Australia

    Couple arrested shipping 490 grams of meth to Australia

    After allegedly shipping crystal meth to Australia, a Nigerian man and his Thai girlfriend were arrested in Bangkok. The couple was stopped and arrested on Friday evening allegedly trying to make a shipment at a private mail drop-off point. The Nigerian man was identified as Obimma Anthony and the Thai woman is Marisa Noipitak. The pair were stopped by police…

  • Police arrest woman jobless from Covid-19 for burglary

    Police arrest woman jobless from Covid-19 for burglary

    Police apprehended a woman in Nakhon Phanom who confessed to breaking into 8 homes in the area after the Covid-19 pandemic left her unemployed and broke. The 26 year old woman from Sri Songkhram district was caught with nearly 100 things she had stolen from the houses in the Muang municipal area where she lived in a rental house. Residents…

  • Thailand’s big, bad meth boom, in the middle of a pandemic | VIDEO

    Thailand’s big, bad meth boom, in the middle of a pandemic | VIDEO

      Caitlin Ashworth reports on Thailand’s burgeoning drug trade and the futile attempts to try and control it. 72 tonnes of a chemical called propionyl chloride arrives in a remote region of Laos. All professionally packaged and loaded ready for shipping. The containers full of the obscure chemical had made their way from Jiangsu, a coastal Chinese province north of…

  • Man allegedly steal employer’s Mercedes in retaliation for mistreatment; family returns car later, Ayutthaya arrest still follows

    Man allegedly steal employer’s Mercedes in retaliation for mistreatment; family returns car later, Ayutthaya arrest still follows

    Yesterday morning in central Thailand, Ayutthaya Railway Police arrested a young man for allegedly stealing his employer’s Mercedes-Benz and driving off to Hat Yai to have it pawned for 40,000 Baht. However, the man’s family had second thoughts about the alleged theft and returned the car a few months later. Around 10:15 am yesterday, Channarong Zainid, the Commander in Chief…

  • Samut Prakan curfew breaker cries for mother after police find drugs on him

    Samut Prakan curfew breaker cries for mother after police find drugs on him

    Recently, a man in Samut Prakan, a central Thai province, was arrested after he broke curfew and whose suspicious behaviour led police to discover an array of drugs on his person. The man, 45 year old Pairot Nakbut, was caught outside around 9:30 pm near a police checkpoint. Pairot was reportedly uncooperative and cried out for his mother for an…

  • Phuket man shot in leg and hit with baseball bat, police investigate

    Phuket man shot in leg and hit with baseball bat, police investigate

    Phuket police are investigating an assault in Patong where a man was shot in the leg and smashed in the head with a baseball bat. The Patong Police learned of the assault through a 191 national police hotline just before 6 pm yesterday following a report from rescue workers where they took a wounded man to the Patong hospital The…