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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    Answers to the most common questions about international health insurance

    If you’ve been thinking of staying in Thailand long-term, you’ve probably already asked the big question, “Do I actually need international health insurance?” It’s a question that often comes up among expats, digital nomads, retirees, and even frequent travellers. Sure,...

  • Police arrest man who made 75,000 baht a month selling cannabis on Facebook, Line

    Police arrest man who made 75,000 baht a month selling cannabis on Facebook, Line

    Police arrested a man in a post office yesterday in the central province of Samut Prakan after being tipped off that he was selling marijuana via Facebook and Line and sending it to customers through the post. The man’s regular customers were granted entry into a special Line group and sent a Buddhist amulet with their brick of marijuana as…

  • Murder investigation launched, 2 arrested after dog carries human skull out of forest

    Murder investigation launched, 2 arrested after dog carries human skull out of forest

    Two suspects in a murder investigation have been arrested after a dog found the remains of a police officer’s missing brother in a forest in Thailand’s Isaan region. Officers are still searching for four other suspects. A farmer taking his cows out to feed near an abandoned shoe factory spotted a dog carrying a human skull out of a eucalyptus forest…

  • Convenience store employee attacked after telling a customer to wear a mask

    Convenience store employee attacked after telling a customer to wear a mask

    Four teenagers were arrested after they allegedly attacked a convenience store clerk who told customers to wear face masks before entering the shop over the weekend. Surveillance camera footage from the shop in the central province of Ratchaburi shows a group of teenagers gathering around the 19 year old employee before attacking him, punching and kicking until he fell on…

  • 45,000 counterfeit items seized nationwide in one month

    45,000 counterfeit items seized nationwide in one month

    Fake Gucci handbags, Nike shoes and Prada sunglasses with low price tags can be found around every corner of almost every market in Thailand and are easily identifiable from their real counterparts. Counterfeit items are popular with locals and tourists alike, but the Department of Intellectual Property wants to make an example that selling fake brand names in Thailand is…

  • Pattaya police raid karaoke bar, some partygoers also test positive for drugs

    Pattaya police raid karaoke bar, some partygoers also test positive for drugs

    Police in Pattaya raided a karaoke bar open past the 11pm cutoff time set by the government under the Covid-19 preventative measures. Officers from the Mueng Pattaya Police Station went by the karaoke bar Casanova at 1:30am on Sunday. Many cars and motorcycles were parked out front and music could be heard coming from inside the bar. Customers dancing and…

  • Body of Burmese fisherman found in oil tank in southern Thailand’s Surat Thani

    Body of Burmese fisherman found in oil tank in southern Thailand’s Surat Thani

    The body of a Burmese fisherman was found in an oil tank on a fishing boat docked in the southern province of Surat Thani. The tank was on a fishing boat where the man had worked which was found by a painter who was going to clean and paint the boat’s engine room. He tried to move the tank out…

  • Tangmo: Senators warn police to store speedboat ‘properly’

    Tangmo: Senators warn police to store speedboat ‘properly’

    Store the boat properly, you dummies! That’s the key takeaway, after senators visited the police headquarters in Muang district of Nonthaburi last week, where they found police had not been properly storing a key piece of evidence — the speedboat that drowned actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharavirapong allegedly fell from. Members of the Senate committee on human rights, liberty and consumer…

  • Officers investigate death of elderly American expat in Pattaya

    Officers investigate death of elderly American expat in Pattaya

    Police in Pattaya are investigating the death of an 80 year old American man who was found lying in bed with a plastic bag covering his head. Officers also note that the door to the safe was left open. Investigators will review surveillance camera footage from the condominium to determine if anyone entered his room. The elderly expat had lived…

  • Pattaya police arrest ‘restaurant’ manager who allegedly violated Covid-19 rules

    Pattaya police arrest ‘restaurant’ manager who allegedly violated Covid-19 rules

    Pattaya City Police reported yesterday that they arrested a ‘restaurant’ manager in Pattaya for allegedly selling alcohol without a permit, opening a venue without a permit, and breaking the Chonburi Disease Control Orders. Only former bars and clubs that have been converted into ‘restaurants’, and have proper certification, are approved by authorities are allowed to operate. Alcohol can be served…

  • Punishment for ‘Joe Ferrari’ seven police will be decided June 8

    Punishment for ‘Joe Ferrari’ seven police will be decided June 8

    Thailand’s Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases will decide punishment for the seven so-called ‘Joe Ferrari’ police on June 8. The seven former police officers allegedly suffocated a drug suspect to death with a plastic bag. They face four charges: malfeasance, abuse of authority, torture causing death, and coercion. The victim’s parents have demanded 1.55 million baht from…

  • Two southern men accused of killing police officer arrested in Bangkok

    Two southern men accused of killing police officer arrested in Bangkok

    Police arrested two southern men in Bangkok today who are accused of killing a police officer. The two men are the prime suspects in the fatal shooting of a sergeant major in southern Phattalung province earlier this month. A police lieutenant general said the suspects were also linked to other cases involving drugs and attempted murder. The two men allegedly…

  • Human bones found in tank buried at Surat Thani plantation

    Human bones found in tank buried at Surat Thani plantation

    Warning: The photo below contains images that some may find disturbing. Human bones were found in an oil tank buried at a rubber plantation in the southern province of Surat Thani. The landowner guessed the skeletons might belong to a Burmese worker who was missing four years ago. The land is being cleared for durian trees and workers were using…

  • Two Thai women allegedly drug tourist at Bangkok hotel, steal US,000

    Two Thai women allegedly drug tourist at Bangkok hotel, steal US$4,000

    A foreign tourist who took two Thai women back to his hotel room in Bangkok was reportedly drugged and robbed. The women allegedly took off with US$4,000 and 15,000 baht in cash as well as other belongings. It is believed that drugs were mixed in the man’s coffee cup. The tourist, who is a firefighter from Kuwait, travelled to Thailand…

  • Police in Isaan Thailand told to be lenient with cannabis growers after grandma’s arrest

    Police in Isaan Thailand told to be lenient with cannabis growers after grandma’s arrest

    Following the arrest of a 70-year-old woman and her relative for growing a cannabis plant at their home in the Isaan province Khon Kaen, local police have been advised to use common sense, and good judgment when enforcing the laws on cannabis as Thailand loosens laws to become more marijuana-friendly. The women spent the night in jail and were punished…

  • Police in Isaan Thailand search for man allegedly caught skinning a cat

    Police in Isaan Thailand search for man allegedly caught skinning a cat

    Villagers in the Isaan province Udon Thani are being advised to look after their pets after a woman said she came across a man skinning a cat outside a nearby temple. The man fled, leaving only the cat skin at the scene. Police are now searching for the man. The village chief spoke with Thai media about the incident, saying…

  • Criminal Court acquits 6 over 2015 Bangkok terror plot, cites lack of evidence

    Criminal Court acquits 6 over 2015 Bangkok terror plot, cites lack of evidence

    Thailand’s Criminal Court acquitted six people yesterday over a Bangkok terrorism plot in 2015. The court cited a lack of evidence. The former suspects allegedly hired someone to bomb several spots including Lumpini Park, Chatuchak MRT station, and the Criminal Court. The person they allegedly hired didn’t go through with the attacks, according to prosecutors. The charges included running an…

  • Thailand’s Navy intercepts one of three Vietnamese fishing boats in Gulf

    Thailand’s Navy intercepts one of three Vietnamese fishing boats in Gulf

    Yesterday, Thailand’s navy intercepted one of three Vietnamese fishing boats seen in the Gulf of Thailand on Tuesday night. The navy first tried firing warning shots at three ships. The ships ignored the warning and fled. The navy managed to catch one of the ships yesterday, and arrested five people for illegally fishing in Thai waters. The five face charges…

  • Tangmo: Boating buddies should take polygraph tests, again — says senator

    Tangmo: Boating buddies should take polygraph tests, again — says senator

    The five boating buddies of the Thai actress Nida “Tango” Patcharavirapong should take lie detector tests — again. That’s the recommendation of Senator Somchai Sawangkarn, head of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, Rights, Liberties and Consumer Protection. Somachai made the statement to the media after a meeting on Monday, during which he heard reports from the police and…

  • Drug trafficking suspect who allegedly shot at police last year arrested, South Thailand

    Drug trafficking suspect who allegedly shot at police last year arrested, South Thailand

    Police in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat arrested an alleged drug trafficker and his girlfriend last night. The two were hiding in a rented house in Muang district. Nakhon Si Thammarat police found 80 meth pills, drug paraphenalia, and nearly 300,000 baht cash. They also found bank account books showing deposits of several million baht, guns and ammunition…

  • Buriram battle: 50 youths shoot guns, throw explosives and glass bottles

    Buriram battle: 50 youths shoot guns, throw explosives and glass bottles

    A 50 man fight broke out in the middle of the street at 1am this morning after the annual Red Cross music festival held in the northeastern province of Buriram. Two groups of young men, approximately 50 in total, started out by arguing and chasing each other on motorcycles and then began throwing glass bottles, homemade grenades and shooting guns…

  • 10.8 million baht found in dead abbot’s quarters, dean of monks says family has no right to the money

    10.8 million baht found in dead abbot’s quarters, dean of monks says family has no right to the money

    After 50 days of merit-making, Luang Phor Yen Satchitto’s minimalist hut was opened on Sunday by relatives who found over 10.6 million baht in cash under the bed. Relatives and locals estimate the figure should be nearer to 40 million and suspect a burglary has taken place, but forensic officers think otherwise. The cash was deposited into a joint account…

  • Night shift employee at Pattaya guest house robbed while asleep at reception desk

    Night shift employee at Pattaya guest house robbed while asleep at reception desk

    An employee working the night shift at a guest house in Pattaya fell asleep at the reception counter and woke up to find valuables missing from the lobby, which are said to be valued at a total of 160,000 baht. The 49 year old staff member filed a report to police and provided surveillance camera footage showing a man entering…

  • Non-profit Watchdog Thailand saves over 20 cats locked in house, 5 found dead

    Non-profit Watchdog Thailand saves over 20 cats locked in house, 5 found dead

    Over 20 cats were found starving inside a locked house yesterday in Samut Prakan province, just south of Bangkok. Activists from the non-profit organisation Watchdog Thailand saved 17 of the cats while four escaped and a total of five dead cats were found inside the house. The cats are now being cared for at Watchdog’s shelter. Villagers contacted Watchdog Foundation…

  • Couple having sex in car allegedly attempt to run over security guard after confrontation

    Couple having sex in car allegedly attempt to run over security guard after confrontation

    A security guard narrowly dodged getting run over after asking a couple who were having sex in a parked car at a Bangkok market to move along. When the head of security approached the car in the early hours of Sunday morning, the driver attempted to run him over and fled the scene. No one was injured. 20 year old…

  • Police order shutdown of 3 go-go bars, nightclubs in Bangkok’s Thonburi

    Police order shutdown of 3 go-go bars, nightclubs in Bangkok’s Thonburi

    Police are shutting down three bars for five years in the Thonburi area of Bangkok without much explanation. The three “satan borikan,” or “service places” (a Thai genteelism for prostitution venues) have been closed down for committing offences that violate Thailand’s “Entertainment Act” of 1966 and a government order from 2015. New Jazz, Lan-Lao and Poseidon Pub in Thonburi committed…

  • Southern Thailand police find large haul of methamphetamine hidden in deep fryers

    Southern Thailand police find large haul of methamphetamine hidden in deep fryers

    Officers in Southern Thailand found hundreds of kilograms of crystal methamphetamine hidden in electronic deep fryers packaged to be shipped overseas. A couple was arrested after officers raided a home and a motorcycle repair shop, seizing methamphetamine from both locations, which, in total, weighed more than half a tonne with a street value of 117 million baht. Officers suspect the…

  • Ranger wanted for murder found dead in Thailand forest after week-long search

    Ranger wanted for murder found dead in Thailand forest after week-long search

    After a week-long search involving around 100 officers, the body of a forest ranger wanted for murder was found hanging from a tree in Buriram. The senior ranger was wanted for firing shots at his ex-wife’s home, killing the woman’s 20 year old son. 45 year old Phitphirun Phiraphop was a senior forest protection ranger at Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary.…

  • Phuket man paralysed by drunk officer seeks 15 million baht in compensation

    Phuket man paralysed by drunk officer seeks 15 million baht in compensation

    The family of the noodle vendor who was shot by a drunk, off-duty police officer last year on Phuket’s Bangla Road is seeking compensation of 15 million baht. The 25 year old vendor was shot in the stomach with the bullet lodged in his spine, paralysing him from the waist down. The officer is now on trial for attempted murder,…

  • Samut Prakan woman kills son’s friend in bloody fight

    Samut Prakan woman kills son’s friend in bloody fight

    A woman stabbed a man to death in Samut Prakan last night, claiming the man chased her son with a wooden stick. She said she first tried to stop the man from hurting her son, but then he hit her with the stick. The woman’s son, Vorakan, told police he been drinking with the man and a group of their…

  • Tangmo: Fresh autopsy of Thai actress dispels suspicions (preliminary findings)

    Tangmo: Fresh autopsy of Thai actress dispels suspicions (preliminary findings)

    A second autopsy of the body of Thai actress Nida “Tangmo” Patcharavirapong was conducted Thursday afternoon by the Central Institute of Forensic Science at Thammasat University Hospital in Bangkok. The actress’ mother, Panida Sirayootyotin, requested the re-examination to confirm her daughter’s cause of death and to dispel any skepticism surrounding the high-profile investigation. READ: Tangmo: Panel to verify 2nd autopsy…