After Bangkok drug party raid, police investigate possible Chinese connections

After police raided a Bangkok drug party with hundreds of Chinese nationals on Wednesday, they are now investigating possible connections with a group of wealthy Chinese business owners.

Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, said the police are probing whether the business owners are behind the increasing number of unauthorised night venues in Bangkok’s Ratchada and Sutthisan areas.

Surachate said on Wedenesday that investigators have reason to believe that the recently raided karaoke venue in Sathorn was run by the same people running a pub on Ratchada Road.

On the same day the Sathorn venue was raided, authorities said they found traces of amphetamine in the system of a Chinese woman who died on September 17 under mysterious circumstances after visiting the pub on Ratchada Road. The woman was 32 year old You Zhue Hua.

Both the Sathorn venue and the Ratchada Road venue serve Chinese tourists almost exclusively, according to Surachate. He noted that some people have entered Thailand on tourist visas, and are technically operating businesses without permission.

Surachate said the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) and provincial police are collaborating to investigate this, Bangkok Post reported. Surachate added that the police were trying to find out where the drugs at the Sathorn venue came from, and how these Chinese business people were able to leave Chine while there were strict Covid-19 policies.

In the raid on the Sathorn venue on Wednesday, police arrested 268 people, and 104 of them tested positive for drugs. A total of 99 who tested positive were Chinese nationals. The venue’s staff offered people drugs, and even offered to keep leftover products for their clients’ next visit.

Yesterday, police arrested two Singaporean men who allegedly produced ‘Happy Water’ and sold it to nightclubs, including the Sathorn venue.

Time will tell what further details emerge.