Former police officer’s pawn standoff: Armed confrontation over seized finance car in Bangkok

A former police officer reportedly threatened two members of staff from a finance company with a gun after they tried to seize a pawned car in his possession at Soi Phetchakasem Road 75 in the Nong Khaem district of Bangkok.

A viral video of the incident was recorded by a finance company member of staff while they were trying to seize the car at the Bangkok house on August 2. In the video, one staff member is seen applying strips of white tape onto the red Ford Mustang’s doors, hood, and various parts, in preparation for the vehicle’s seizure.

Suddenly, a man in a green shirt and shorts and a woman in a yellow outfit rushed to the car. The man is seen brandishing a gun. He shouted at the finance staff…

“What the f*ck are you doing to my car!”

The man then tore the tape off the car door, hopped into the driver’s seat, and drove away from the scene at high speed. A member of the finance staff, who recorded the video, can be heard saying she would file a complaint at the police station.

A Thai woman later revealed to Channel 3 that the man and woman seen in the video were not the owners of the vehicle. She was the owner but faced a few financial issues and decided to pawn her car with the couple for 700,000 baht.

According to the woman, she was paying 70,000 baht in interest per month. Faced with this financial burden, she decided to pawn the car for a month. After the month passed, she made contact with the couple, intent on reclaiming her vehicle, but the couple demanded too much money and she could not redeem it.

The woman said the car remained registered in her name and was still subject to an ongoing instalment plan. The lapse in her monthly payments prompted the finance company to initiate a search for the car and eventually led to their attempt to repossess it.

The woman added that she had subsequently received a lot of traffic tickets because the couple used the car to violate Thailand’s traffic laws.

Channel 3 reported that the man seen in the video is a former police inspector who had worked in the vehicle theft department. He later resigned from the position to operate a car pawn business with his wife. Channel 3 reported he once caused chaos at Don Mueang International Airport when he missed a flight, aggressively remonstrating with staff.

Another finance staff member, Fah, revealed to Channel 3 that the video did not cover every incident that occurred to her and her colleague. The former police officer also allegedly threatened them pointing his gun at their faces.

Another member of staff, Ek, stated that he had been working for 10 years but had never experienced a situation like this before. He admitted that he was very scared at the time and did not know what he should do.

Police summoned the aforementioned former police officer for further questioning but he postponed the appointment. No update has been provided on when the suspect will visit the police for questioning.