36 foreigners arrested in Pattaya for illegal work, overstay, and drugs
Police raided an accommodation building in Pattaya yesterday, January 12, arresting 36 foreigners for illegal entry, working without permits, visa overstays, and drug use.
Officers from the Chon Buri Provincial Immigration Bureau, together with Tourist Police, launched the operation as part of a wider crackdown on illegal foreign nationals aimed at improving safety and restoring confidence among residents and tourists.
As part of the operation, officers raided an eight-storey accommodation building in South Pattaya after receiving a tip-off about a large number of suspicious foreign residents staying at the premises.
More than 30 officers were deployed to search all 120 rooms in the building. During the inspection, authorities found more than 120 foreign nationals residing there. The occupants were from various countries, including India, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Oman, Russia, and Iraq.
Following identity checks and questioning, a total of 36 foreigners were arrested at the scene. Police reported eight Indian men were found working illegally as construction workers. The men were caught while renovating rooms inside the building and were unable to present valid work permits.
Another eight Myanmar nationals were arrested for entering Thailand without permission, while the remaining 20 foreign nationals were charged with offences including visa overstays, drug use, and failure to report their accommodation to authorities as required by Thai immigration law.
All suspects were taken into custody for further legal proceedings, with authorities confirming that immigration and narcotics laws would be enforced strictly.
The raid follows a series of similar crackdowns in Pattaya and other tourist areas. In December last year, police arrested eight foreign women for illegally offering sex services on Pattaya Beach. The group included five Ugandan women, two Uzbek nationals, and one woman from Madagascar. Each was fined 1,000 baht before being deported.
In the same month, 19 Indian nationals were arrested at a luxury house in Pattaya after being found operating an illegal online business selling sex toys and sex enhancement drugs. The website had reportedly been active for about three months before the police operation.
A similar enforcement drive was recently launched in Phuket, where authorities arrested an Egyptian man for illegally operating a barbershop in the Patong area. The man admitted he had lived in Thailand for more than 10 years and had been running the business for around two years before his arrest.
