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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  • Teen boasts he escaped murder charge because his family is rich

    Teen boasts he escaped murder charge because his family is rich

    An 18 year old allegedly boasted on social media that he escaped being charged with the murder of a 14 year old boy because his family is rich and powerful. Thai social media is outraged that 18 year old Dome killed 14 year old Fluck and bragged about it on Twitter. Netizens are furious after seeing the trending hashtag on…

  • Man stabbed to death by superstitious friend

    Man stabbed to death by superstitious friend

    A man was stabbed to death yesterday by a superstitious friend who believed an amulet the victim wore made him immortal. The delusional offender, who was only released from prison last year after murdering someone else, wanted to test the victim’s mortality by stabbing him. Police reported that 44 year old Auttapon Na Nakhon was stabbed to death by his…

  • Patong venue staffer tests positive for drugs

    Patong venue staffer tests positive for drugs

    A Patong entertainment venue staffer tested positive for drugs on Monday night after police conducted a major drug testing crackdown on five venues on Bangla Road. Patong Police drug tested nearly 184 staffers and one tested positive. It has not been reported what drug the staffer tested positive for. The recent crackdown is part of a campaign police are calling…

  • Thai women tricked into sex work in Nigeria seek help

    Thai women tricked into sex work in Nigeria seek help

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand is on a mission to rescue a group of Thai women stuck in Nigeria who claim they were offered work as masseuses but forced into prostitution instead. Last week, relatives of the women sought help from Paveena Hongsakul, who is a Thai women’s rights and children’s rights activist, ex-Minister of Social Development and…

  • Police arrest 2 Chinese mafia chiefs, 3 slip the net

    Police arrest 2 Chinese mafia chiefs, 3 slip the net

    Thailand’s deputy national police chief revealed yesterday that the authorities have captured two heads of Chinese mafia gangs in the kingdom. Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate ‘Big Joke’ Hakparn announced a covert undercover operation managed to successfully arrest two mafia chiefs adding that three heads of illegal activities managed to escape their clutches, fleeing the country on private…

  • Police seize 1,000s of weapons, calming APEC delegates

    Police seize 1,000s of weapons, calming APEC delegates

    As Thailand struggles to combat the harm done by the methamphetamine epidemic, in a bizarre statement, police claim to have rounded up more than 60,000 suspects and seized thousands of weapons in cases tied to narcotics and illegal weapons since October 10, “bolstering confidence” among delegates to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on November 18. Police made…

  • Teacher murders her 5 year old autistic son in southern Thailand

    Teacher murders her 5 year old autistic son in southern Thailand

    Today, a teacher at a famous school in Hat Yai murdered her autistic 5 year old son by smothering him with a pillow in Songkhla Province, southern Thailand. After the murder, she tried to commit suicide by drinking toilet cleaner but ended up critically ill in hospital. Officers from Hat Yai Police Station were called to the scene – a condo…

  • British man sentenced for rape in UK flees to Thailand

    British man sentenced for rape in UK flees to Thailand

    A British man sentenced to eight years in jail for rape is believed to have fled to Thailand. A jury found Michael Foster unanimously found guilty of rape in absentia in September, reported Lancashire Police. Yesterday, he was found guilty once more at Preston Crown Court. The 35 year old man, formerly of Fishwick Parade, Preston, was given eight years…

  • Flying lanterns near airports in Thailand is punishable by death penalty, warns govt

    Flying lanterns near airports in Thailand is punishable by death penalty, warns govt

    Flying a lantern near an airport in Thailand is a very serious criminal offence carrying the harshest penalties, even the death penalty, according to government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek. The spokesperson gave the stern warning at a press conference yesterday while thousands of people prepare to float paper lanterns into the sky to celebrate both Loy Krathong and Yi Peng festivals…

  • German man in Pattaya freaks out as officers move in to arrest him for overstaying

    German man in Pattaya freaks out as officers move in to arrest him for overstaying

    A German couple in Pattaya was arrested yesterday for overstaying their visa. Arresting officers at the scene discovered that the man wasn’t going to go without a fight. Officers from Bang Lamung Police Station were answering a routine nuisance neighbour call at Soi Panya Nimit in Nongprue, but when they arrived on the scene they discovered the couple had overstayed their…

  • New Zealand expat arrested in Phuket over weapons, including explosives

    New Zealand expat arrested in Phuket over weapons, including explosives

    A New Zealand expat has been arrested in Phuket for possessing several weapons, including 11 explosives. The man, 63 year old Gareth Alan Davies, was also found to have 19 guns and ammunition in his house in the Kathu district. Region 8 Police Commander Surapong Thanomjit said that Davies had claimed that the weapons were just collectables. But Commander Surapong…

  • Drunk police doctor who crashed Porsche killing 2 in Thailand avoids prison for now

    Drunk police doctor who crashed Porsche killing 2 in Thailand avoids prison for now

    Today, Thon Buri Provincial Court sentenced a police doctor to three years imprisonment and a fine of 101,000 baht for speeding and drink-driving in his Porsche, causing a crash that killed two people and seriously injured one more person in Bangkok back in August 2021. However, although the defendant pleaded guilty on all counts, the court suspended his punishment for…

  • Police find meth pills, gun, bullets, knife, and axe in man’s car in Patong

    Police find meth pills, gun, bullets, knife, and axe in man’s car in Patong

    Police yesterday found nine meth pills, a gun, 10 bullets, a knife, and an axe in a man’s car in Patong. Patong Police had been alerted by residents that there was a minivan parked in front of a hotel for a long time and that the driver looked suspicious. The police then searched the minivan and found the items. They arrested…

  • Police urge Thailand’s singletons to be wary of online dating perils

    Police urge Thailand’s singletons to be wary of online dating perils

    Police are urging Thailand’s single women to be aware of the perils of online dating. Commander of Cyber Crime Investigation Division 4, Pol Maj Gen Thitawat Suriyachai, warned Thai singletons at a seminar yesterday to be careful when swiping right on a potential dating partner. He added a number of these online dating profiles are fake and linked to call…

  • Middle Eastern tourists steal phones from Pattaya hotel

    Middle Eastern tourists steal phones from Pattaya hotel

    Pattaya Police are on the lookout for two Middle Eastern men who robbed two mobile phones yesterday from a hotel at Soi Pattaya Sai Song. A 43 year old member of the hotel staff, Siriwan Saeng-Arun, told police that the two Middle Eastern tourists requested to see a room before booking on Saturday, November 5. Siriwan showed the alleged tourists a…

  • Immigration police show off arrests of foreign criminals in Thailand

    Immigration police show off arrests of foreign criminals in Thailand

    Officers from Thailand’s Immigration Bureau held a press conference on Friday to reveal the results of five ‘important’ recent criminal cases in the kingdom involving foreign perpetrators. Immigration police are hunting down foreign criminals in Thailand ahead of the APEC meeting in Bangkok later this month. Police recently announced a crackdown on foreign criminals to ensure the safety and security…

  • Crime analytics – a game-changer for trafficking of illegal firearms

    Crime analytics – a game-changer for trafficking of illegal firearms

    California recently passed a new law that permits private persons to file a civil action against anybody who manufactures, distributes, transports or imports assault weapons or ghost guns, to reduce gun violence in the aftermath of recent mass shootings throughout the country. Despite several such laws being passed worldwide, the illicit trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) continues…

  • Thai carer who beat her lover to death denied parole in UK

    Thai carer who beat her lover to death denied parole in UK

    A Thai woman in the UK who beat her elderly lover to death with a hammer has been denied parole and permission to move to an open prison. Bunthawee Rimmer, who was 49, at the time of the killing, was jailed for a minimum of 11 years in July 2012 for the murder her lover Paul Norfolk, 77 years old.…

  • Police remove illegal food and drink venues at Phuket beach

    Police remove illegal food and drink venues at Phuket beach

    Police have on Wednesday removed illegal food and drink venues from a beach in Phuket‘s Thalang district. The police found three venues on Layan Beach that were providing food and drinks, as well as beach chairs, sunbeds, and umbrellas. Two people who said they were owners of two of the outlets were arrested for seeling alcohol without permission, and violating…

  • Delivery driver finds huge stash of Thai, Laos and Japanese banknotes under a tree

    Delivery driver finds huge stash of Thai, Laos and Japanese banknotes under a tree

    A delivery driver stumbled across a stash of Thai, Japanese, and Laos banknotes scattered beneath a tree in Udon Thani city centre, northeast Thailand, this morning. The cash – amounting to over 500,000 baht – is suspected to be fake. The driver, 43 year old Somsak Sirikhan, was sitting waiting for a job with five or six other rides. He…

  • 81-year-old Japanese man arrested for murder after pushing wife’s wheelchair into sea

    81-year-old Japanese man arrested for murder after pushing wife’s wheelchair into sea

    Police arrested an 81-year-old Japanese man after he allegedly pushed his wheelchair-bound wife into the sea. The man, Hiroshi Fujiwara, was arrested in the Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan with police saying he then admitted to killing his 79-year-old wife. Fujiwara said he was worn out from looking after her as she had been in a wheelchair for the past…

  • VIDEO: Korean tourist in Pattaya says transgender person pickpocketed him

    VIDEO: Korean tourist in Pattaya says transgender person pickpocketed him

    Even though Pattaya’s thieves have largely targeted Indian tourists this year, it appears that when picking targets, people of all nationalities are fair game. A Korean tourist in Pattaya told police that a transgender person pickpocketed him on a beach on Wednesday night. The tourist, 43 year old Sanghyeon Lee, said he was walking on Pattaya Beach with friends when…

  • Bangkok police arrest 15 scammers, seize US million

    Bangkok police arrest 15 scammers, seize US$1 million

    Bangkok police arrested 15 suspected scammers involved in a barrage of illegal businesses, seizing assets worth more than over 42 million baht (US$1.1 million) yesterday. The arrests follow a series of disturbing incidents, including a raid on a nightclub disguised as a car wash in the Yannawa district, and the death of a tourist after a night out at a…

  • Activist charged with assault and child exploitation

    Activist charged with assault and child exploitation

    Secretary-general of the Amphawa district Child Protection Foundation in Samut Sakhon Montree Sinthawichai, his wife and son, met police investigators at Amphawa district police station today to hear charges against them. Montree, better known as Khru Yun, is accused of assaulting children and using child labour. Previously, activists from the Zendai Foundation took children under Montree’s care to file a…

  • Prisoner fakes his own death to escape cell in Pattaya, Thailand

    Prisoner fakes his own death to escape cell in Pattaya, Thailand

    An alleged thief faked his death yesterday in an attempt to escape his cell in Pattaya, Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand. However, the “dead” prisoner shot up like a bolt when suspecting rescue workers placed ammonia under his nose. Yesterday, officers from Pattaya City Police Station arrested and detained 53 year old Sayan [surname withheld] under suspicion of stealing 50,000…

  • Man arrested for selling homemade guns

    Man arrested for selling homemade guns

    A Thai man was arrested yesterday for making homemade guns and selling them via e-commerce platforms. The man revealed that he learned how to produce the barrels from social media. Police raided the home of Phuwadon Rakthinderm in the Kung district of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat and arrested the 34 year old for producing and selling firearms…

  • Knife-wielding meth addict circles daycare centre in northeast Thailand

    Knife-wielding meth addict circles daycare centre in northeast Thailand

    A man in a suspected meth-induced psychotic episode took a knife and circled a daycare centre in Non Suwan subdistrict, Buriram province, northeast Thailand yesterday morning. At around 9am, 30 year old Gongphon “Ming” Sehlah arrived at Non Suwan Child Development Centre armed with a knife and began walking around the centre. According to police, Ming entered a methamphetamine-induced psychotic…

  • No gambling dens reported in Bangkok says police chief

    No gambling dens reported in Bangkok says police chief

    Thailand’s new national police chief says he hasn’t received any reports of gambling dens in Bangkok since he was appointed as chief on October 1. This was in response to a group of gamblers who claimed that over 100 illegal gambling dens operate throughout the capital city. The group of gamblers claim that they were abducted and physically abused at a…

  • Intruder who attacked US House Speaker’s husband says it was a suicide misison

    Intruder who attacked US House Speaker’s husband says it was a suicide misison

    The intruder who broke into US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and severely injured her husband, says it was a suicide mission. David DePape hit Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer, leaving him unconscious in a pool of blood leaving him to be hospitalised with a skull fracture. DePape was captured and arrested, telling police that he was…

  • Halloween crowd surge casualties prompt raid on Seoul’s police headquarters

    Halloween crowd surge casualties prompt raid on Seoul’s police headquarters

    After a deadly crowd surge at a Seoul Halloween event left at least 156 people dead, special investigators are raiding the city’s police headquarters. Records released of emergency calls warning that the crowds of Halloween party-goers were becoming too big, prompted the investigation as authorities say police had four hours of advanced warning. Eight locations were searched including the Seoul Metropolitan…