3 foreigners arrested for drugs at Phuket EDC music festival
Police arrested three foreigners, a Japanese man, a Malaysian man, and a Burmese man, at the Electric Daisy Carnival Thailand 2025 (EDC Thailand 2025) in Phuket for possessing illegal drugs.
The three-day music festival, EDC Thailand 2025, was held at the Boat Avenue Lakefront in the Choeng Thale district of Phuket, concluding on Sunday.
While many partygoers and locals praised the event for its vibrant atmosphere and significant contribution to the local economy, some expressed concerns over noise, traffic congestion, and drug-related issues.
Tragically, two foreign attendees, an American and a Canadian man, reportedly lost consciousness during the concert. They were rushed to hospital but sadly passed away. The causes of their deaths are still under investigation but locals suspect drug overdoses.
Thai netizens alleged that drugs were easily accessible at the event, particularly among foreign attendees, and accused some visitors of smuggling drugs into the festival.
In response to rumours surrounding drug use and the deaths of foreign attendees, Phuket police intensified their security measures on the final day of the event.
Officers set up a checkpoint at the festival’s entrance, conducting thorough searches of all attendees. During the operation, police arrested a Japanese man found in possession of cocaine, a Burmese man carrying methamphetamine (Yaba), and a Malaysian man with ecstasy.
Details about the quantity of drugs seized and the charges against the suspects were not disclosed in the report.
Yesterday, January 20, the Facebook page, Phuket Info Centre, reported about bribery committed by an event organiser but did not identify the person or event names. Netizens agreed that the mentioned event organiser was involved with the recent music festival.
The page accused an event organiser of paying Thai news outlets hundreds of thousands of baht to suppress negative coverage of the event. The post claimed…
“The event organiser complained. They paid both these Facebook pages and larger news agencies several hundred thousand baht but these agencies still reported on the drug issues and deaths at the event.”
The claims of bribery and complaint of the event organiser have not been verified and the police have yet to comment on the accusations.
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